Cinema as Scripture

Have you ever been in a situation or in a conversation with someone and can't quite find words to express what you feel or mean and are reminded from a scene from a movie that nails the scenario? That is what Scripture does for People of the Book. It is foundational, a continual frame of reference. The setting may not be "up to date" but the settings are, to a very large degree, timeless. As such they serve as perpetual reference points.

For those who don't relate to Scripture in this fashion, film, or books, or music, often serve this very purpose. They are, in effect, Scripture, a common language. For those who follow, for example, the Bible, there are times when a story from the Bible can be shared amongst a group from many different backgrounds and yet that story speaks a common language among them all. It is the "base" language.

A movie can provide the same, though perhaps to a narrower audience. But to that audience, it is a common language. There are feelings and emotions and ideas tied up in a movie that can be conveyed just be telling a story from the film.

At my job I had a position in "the office" which meant I had moved "up" from working on the floor. I don't care so much about position and title; I care about learning and experience. So it was an opportunity for growth. When the economy shifted, I was moved back "down" to the floor running presses again. I don't mind the work but it's hard to go backwards. But, as with all things, I looked at it as an opportunity to learn, to see how all the theories and ideas from "up" in the office actually worked "down" on the floor. It has been an eye opener, revealing the occasional dichotomy between ideal and reality.

But, there are days, long days, when it seems like eternity, like a door has been closed for good and fate is sealed. One of the jobs I was put on was running a drill press to ream a larger hole in a part (which ends up on a Harley...kind of cool, I suppose, that one of our parts ends up on such a high profile location). Part after part after part. Put part in fixture, pull down drill bit, bore hole, raise bit, put part in fixture, etc. After several hours of that, well, you get the picture...

So I was reminded of a particular "scripture" from the film Drugstore Cowboy when the character played by Matt Dillon, now in recovery, is working. His prospects, post-recovery, are slim and, after the thrill ride of addiction, he finds himself working a drill press.



Cinema as Scripture?

Or by making such a comparison do we render The Book just another form of human expression of common experience, not a revelation or opening up of the divine but merely an expression from within our shared humanity? Perhaps "film" bears similarity to the way in which we experience The Book in a faith community. After all, look at Star Wars and Star Trek conventions. People live the mythology of these films and frame a particular worldview around it.

Or is it a shortcut to communication? I mean, Animal House as Scripture?



Think about it. Haven't we all felt like this at some point? Trying to fit in, a social outcast, shoved aside because you don't have the pedigree?

Perhaps it is a substitute Scripture but it can function in a similar fashion, a frame of reference, a story which provides inspiration, strength and hope within which we can function in the world.

Lose the Illusion - Almost Famous and Marvin Gaye

The film Almost Famous, one of the best rock and roll films ever made, has two versions, the theatrical release and the "Bootleg Cut". I've never seen the original release as I bought the "Bootleg" version of the DVD when it was released.

There is a scene early in the film when William, eyes glazed at having been allowed back stage and hanging out with rock stars, is tagging along with Russell, guitar player for the pseudo-band Stillwater (there was a real Stillwater though the band in the film is based on the Allman Brothers band, a shout out given to Greg and Dickie given in the same scene). Russell is trying to explain rock and roll to William and mentions a song from Marvin Gaye's essential album What's Going On.

Here's the scene:



When I first saw this scene, which was not in the theatrical release, I thought it nailed the essence of music. However, some time later I would get the Deluxe Edition of the album on CD which contained the original Detroit Mix. The main vocal track and the harmony track on this mix, both done by Marvin Gaye, are in separate channels (i.e. left and right speakers). On the final mix, done in L.A., Motown having made the move to California, these two separate tracks are mixed together and layered. It is quite a stunning effect.

I have grown fond of the Detroit Mix; it sounds much more raw and unpolished and many subtleties of the production behind the album leap out. What becomes also more clear is the fact that this album makes use of samples that are looped throughout the album. The talking heard in the intro to "What's Going On" are repeated throughout the album giving it continuity along with the tracks flowing one into another in seamless fashion.

In fact, the 'Woo!' that Russell mentions in the film is one such sample. It is not a mistake; it is not the only one. Even in 1971 sampling and looping were on the ascendant (in fact Miles Davis' Bitches Brew is an example of such looping though imagine the time it took to do this as it was actual tapes that were spliced and looped, a remarkable and controversial feat).

Here's the 'woo' in question in "What's Happening Brother":



Here is the same sample, first heard one track earlier on "What's Going On":



If you listen to the album (and these two tracks) repeatedly you will clearly hear the 'everything is everything' and 'hey man what's your name' and the 'woo' in question over and over. Listen a little longer and you'll hear the separate vocal tracks.

Perhaps it's ironic that the scene actually nailed the essence of the music industry, not in the actual 'woo' but in the imitation thereof, a creation of an illusion, of a dream, of what we think it should be.

The Believer, Shalom Spiegel and the Akedah

Based on a previous post on the Jewish roots of the origins of Paul's views on the death and resurrection of Jesus I was reminded of the film The Believer, about a Jew who is a skinhead struggling with his beliefs. It's a challenging film well worth watching. I saw this film after studying Vermes' article and subsequently reading The Last Trial.

While it is not widely accepted, the tradition that Isaac was actually killed is fairly well known. Spiegel's book on the Akedah is vital reading. Geza Vermes' article is rooted in it, though Spiegel is much harder on Paul than Vermes. Still, both provide rather interesting perspectives on a belief not commonly known and a different sourcing of Paul's view on the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Here's a clip from the film:

Seattle 1994 Baraka and the World of Illusion

I am listening to the soundtrack for the film Baraka as ripped from the DVD (seems this is heading for obsolence as the Blu-Ray is said to be astonishing...).

In 1994 I was living in Seattle, having found myself there after several months on the road after quitting a "real" job and hitting the road (fueled by confusion, madness and drug use...). It was quite an experience.

One of the memorable moments in the drug-fueled period of my life was the opportunity to see the film Baraka in all it glory on the big screen. I doubt it was in the original 70 mm Todd-AO format though it may have been. All I know is that I was stoned when I went to see it and was mesmerized. In the midst of a spiritual crisis/catharis, the subject matter of the film was right on point. It was where I was at the time; it was also where I wanted to be. I sat in a stupor for about an hour and a half as I asborbed the images and sounds of the film. If you've never see it, you must see it at least once.

One of the pivotal moments, at the height of my buzz no less, was a scene in a trash dump in India where people are rummaging through the trash while Dead Can Dance's "Host of Seraphim" is playing. I was frozen in time. Never had I been so moved during a film; never had I felt a song so powerfully. It was, for that moment, transcendent. Even now as I listen to the song, it takes me there, a perfect memory capsule of a moment frozen in song.

Now, fifteen years later and a bit more worldly wise, I have found that many of the images in the film are based in settings that would be considered the tourist variety and the film itself is structured to "sell" a point. Though profound and moving it is now fairly obvious. Perhaps maturity and experience has shattered the illusion but it doesn't take away from the original experience for which this was a pivotal moment. This is a risk as we age, that we condemn and become cynical about those things that profoundly altered our worldview. But this film educated me and was instrumental in my desire to see the world in context.

One of the scenes which freaked me out at first was early in the film when a group of men, all seated, perform some kind of a dance in the jungle, all led by an older "shamanic" figure, eyes glazed over in a hypnotic trance, arms in unison as the bodies sway back and forth to the rhythm of the chant. A striking visual.

Years later I would learn that this is a staged performance called Kecak, or Ramayana Monkey Chant, a musical drama performed in Bali that celebrates an ancient Sanskrit epic. While it has its roots in sanghyang, a trance-inducing exorcism dance, it has become a "Westernized" version of the original.

A German painter and musician, Walter Spies, became interested in it during the 1930s and transformed it into a performance piece. Spies worked with Wayan Limbak, a Balinese dancer, and Limbak popularized the dance by traveling throughout the world with Balinese performance groups. These travels helped to make the Kecak known throughout the world.

This transformation is an example of what James Clifford describes as part of the "modern art-culture system" in which, "the West or the central power adopts, transforms, and consumes non-Western or peripheral cultural elements, while making 'art' which was once embedded in the culture as a while, into a separate entity."

Here is a more telling photo:

Sounds familiar...

Americanization

To what extent is education exploitation? Too cynical? Is my desire to keep such cultural elements confined to their historical roots a sign of the same "spirit" of Westernization, an elitist version of creating an exotic "other" for voyeuristic purpose?

Speaking of exploitation, tourism and Sufism, this all reminds me of an article from Hakim Bey, one of my favorite anarchist writers, about Overcoming Tourism...

This film was my first exposure to the music of Dead Can Dance and I would, over time, absorb anything related to their music, discovering many artists on the legendary 4AD label. Even today, it is still some of my favorite music.

However, much of this had to do with the mystique I created around their music. I envisioned some mysterious, mystical, exotic group whose music was angelic, ethereal, transcendent. That wasn't the case but the music of Lisa Gerrard, vocalist for Dead Can Dance, is truly amazing. She is perhaps most known for her work in the film score for Gladiator. Like much of my early spirituality, I chose to believe in a myth of my own making, a self-idealized projection that led to living in a world of illusion I created.

Time, age and maturity can often dampen the original joy of an event but this film changed my worldview and instilled a deeper desire for exploring the religious life. With music from around the world buoyed by a score from Michael Stearn (a favorite of Hearts of Space), it's a gem. The music is incredible though I think the weed enhanced the music to an extent I haven't experienced since.

Actually, the last time I watched the film itself I was tripping on LSD and in one of the early scenes of a mountain, I saw the face of Jesus being molded, melting, out of the mountains, a liquid face morphing and changing but still clearly Jesus.

I don't expect you to see Jesus there but I did, plain as could be. It was a charcoal etched vision of him in Fritz Eichenberg or Gustav Dore style (no halo, though) but it was unmistakable. I wanted to stay in that moment forever. Sadly, the crew I was with wanted to trip to something else and ejected the video.

A soundbyte from this film can be found in Jonathan Lisle's incredible Original OS.0_2 mix on John Digweed's Bedrock label and if you watch closely you'll see stills of the film in The Matrix Reloaded when Neo speaks with The Architect.

It's amazing the things that frame our worldview. Because this film so impacted my life (and, obviously, the lives of others) it has become a way of framing my perception of the world and is thus instantly recognizable when placed in various cultural media, a signpost, common ground among a larger tribe, all on the same journey, like product placement (is that irony or cynicism?).

The CD version of the film was too short and left out a lot of the subtle musical gems from the film as was the case with both Koyaanisqatsi and Powaqqatsi. Certainly these will be on Blu-Ray soon. What a peculiar twist having paid $75 for a used VHS version of this movie off of ebay after it was pulled from the shelves of Blockbuster when it went out of print. I can't help but think that there is something ugly and sinister about the material product of media proliferation.

It looks as if an "upgrade" to the soundtrack to Koyaanisqatsi is forthcoming as well.

My wife and I saw Koyaanisqatsi performed live in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with Philip Glass leading his orchestra as part of an effort to fund the finishing touches on the third piece of the trilogy, Naqoyqatsi (or, as my wife calls it, quite prophetically, Not Quite Qatsi). Having heard this live with the film playing on a movie screen in the background was comparable to my viewing of Baraka, though I was sober this time.

Life without drugs and addictions. Being grateful. No regrets. Enjoying the now. To live without illusion. It really is possible.

WALSTIB...