Horse Hospital introduction:
Orlando magazine* presents Sally Potter's first feature film,
The Gold Diggers. The film was co-written by Potter and the artist Rose
English, who is the current subject of a solo show at London's Richard Saltoun
Gallery. This screening marks the final event in an ongoing series of
happenings, which have been loosely related to the current print issue of
Orlando (Beyond the Body), with all ticket sales going towards raising funds
for the future of the magazine. The Gold Diggers is a key film of early 1980s
feminist cinema. Made with an all-woman crew, featuring stunning photography by
Babette Magolte and a score by Lindsay Cooper, it embraces a radical and
experimental narrative structure. Celeste (Colette Laffont) is a computer clerk
in a bank who becomes fascinated by the relationship between gold and power.
Ruby (Julie Christie) is an enigmatic film star in quest of her childhood, her
memories and the truth about her own identity. As their paths cross they come
to sense that there could be a link between the male struggle for economic
supremacy and the female ideal of mysterious but impotent beauty.
*Orlando
is an annual print magazine and rolling online platform that advances art and
culture through the lens of feminism and gender fluidity, and prioritises an
intersectional and polyphonic discourse that is liberated and critically
engaged. The non-profit platform is independent and free from commercial
interest.
Chicago Reader review:
Sally Potter's surrealistic and metaphorical epic about women, gold, and cinema—shot in ravishing black and white by Babette Mangolte on location in Iceland—is a good deal wittier and more fun than its checkered career would lead you to expect. Starring Julie Christie and Colette Laffont, this feminist fantasy-musical, set in the past and the future, was financed by the British Film Institute in 1983 and has a relatively lavish budget for an experimental feature. What keeps it alive—apart from the arresting music and uncanny, haunting images—is Potter's imaginative grasp of film history: odd references to Chaplin's The Gold Rush and Kuleshov's By the Law are recalled in the mise en scene, but the ambience may also remind you a little bit of The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. Not a film for everyone, but if you like it, chances are you'll like it a lot.
Sally Potter's surrealistic and metaphorical epic about women, gold, and cinema—shot in ravishing black and white by Babette Mangolte on location in Iceland—is a good deal wittier and more fun than its checkered career would lead you to expect. Starring Julie Christie and Colette Laffont, this feminist fantasy-musical, set in the past and the future, was financed by the British Film Institute in 1983 and has a relatively lavish budget for an experimental feature. What keeps it alive—apart from the arresting music and uncanny, haunting images—is Potter's imaginative grasp of film history: odd references to Chaplin's The Gold Rush and Kuleshov's By the Law are recalled in the mise en scene, but the ambience may also remind you a little bit of The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. Not a film for everyone, but if you like it, chances are you'll like it a lot.
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Here is the trailer.
No comments:
Post a Comment