Customer Reviews

Wonderwall: The Movie

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Unlike similar "psychedelic" films of the 60s, Wonderwall is one of the few to successfully capture the look and feel of what now appears to be a mythic time when creativity and freedom in cinema was not only new and exciting - but mainstream. Wonderwall will not be for everyone, but it will appeal to those who can appreciate the off-beat and provocative. It will challenge you but also reward you with brilliant performances and one of the best-ever soundtracks (by the late George Harrison). Psychedelic? You bet. But that term does not do justice to what is simply a charming "period piece" that still resonates today for those who like intelligent cinema. A must-have.

An earlier reviewer called this a period piece, and I think that's exactly the right spirit needed to enjoy the film.

For those of us too young to remember 1969, this is a rather remarkable time capsule of values and social relationships. Most striking is the sense that the film seems to have been made by young people with really no idea of how older people live their lives. That wouldn't be a great problem, except that the film itself takes the generation gap as its central feature: how an older man living a boring, empty, unfulfilling life glimpses (but cannot participate in) the colorful, uninhibited, sensual lives of younger people.

On the other hand, while the film is clearly enamored with the hip glamor of youth and beauty, it also suggests that young people bridge the gender gap principally to have sex with each other. Otherwise, they don't have much to say. Strange! I remember getting that same sense from The Graduate (not to compare the two).

Anyway, I think the dvd is recommendable. Good picture, good music (of course), very good extras, and an interesting snapshot of a time and place.

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Wonderwall

I purchased Wonderwall and Rear Window on the same day. When I got them I realized they were both movies about looking, about interiority and desire. Rear Window is, of course, one of the greatest work of cinema art. On the other hand, Wonderwall (thankfully made available by Rhino video) is in an altogether different category. How to categorise it? Pulp, low art, pop, guilty-pleasure, who can say? For me it was a moving and beautiful film in its own way, a slice of the 60s zeitgiest, (so different form the mini-series versions of recent years) a chance to feel the real possibilties floating in the culture before nihilism, fundamentalism and greed became fashionable. George Harrison's music is terrific. There's even a poem by John Lennon on the DVD extras. The colors and art in the film are also period: they hearken to the psychedelic work of Peter Max, the posters for groups like Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead. But, most of all, one can glimpse the 60s version of the beautiful in the form of Jane Birken, who plays a fashion model. Each age has its concept of beauty, as the film points out by movie posters of earlier screen sirens on the apartment walls, and Jane Birken really captured the original free spirit waif long before Kate Moss revived it. Birken really shares her perky charms in this movie, her cat like playfulness. True, she may not be a feminist ideal, you may not compare Nietzsche to Camus with her, but then would you want Ally McBeal for a lawyer? Movies from this period are hard to find so lets hope Rhino and Criterion continue there good work of porting this time to DVD. Don't miss Jane Birken's other nimble foray onto DVD in May Morning.

Based on a story by frequent Polanski collaborator, Gerard Brach and produced a year after Fearless Vampire Killers, which also featured performances by Jack MacGowran and Iain Quarrier, this is marvelous little piece, light and yet moving, filled with wonderful visuals, a nifty performance by MacGowran and a wonderful score by everyone's favorite Beatle, George. A plain synopsis doesn't do it any justice. Yes, it's about a daffy old guy who peers in on a lovely young woman living next door, but there's nothing creepy or pathetic about it. In fact, he's actually quite a bit of a dashing and romantic figure in his own detached, weird way. One of the most notable things about the film is the art direction by the Dutch band/art collective The Fool. A sort of lesser Incredible String Band that served for a while as the Beatles in-house designers, they made the most of what was most likely a thin budget by pouring every ounce of energy into dressing two amazing, Assheton Gorton designed, sets for the adjacent apartments of the old man and the young model. They are, without a doubt, two of the coolest looking places to live I have ever seen in a movie (I would give my eye-teeth to live in either one of those flats) and they form as much of a part of the main characters as the portrayal by the actors themselves. The old scientist lives in Celtic-Medieval warren, inspired by Pre-Raphaelite design, and the young model lives in a mod Sixties psychedelic/glam environment suffused with overtones of 20's/30's nostalgia. Both apartments then are filled with a yearning for the past and so, the old man becomes no more of a romanticist than the girl, despite his age. He is actually quite dashing in his cape and tuxedo when engaging in some of his later escapades, like some bandit out of a Fantomas picture. No, this movie isn't about a pathetic old guy lusting after a lithe young thing. It's about a few other things more interesting and perhaps more touching, but you'll have to find out for yourself. Oh, and if you really want to know, go ahead and read Tennyson's 'The Lady of Shallot', the opening lines of which are insribed in a lintel the scientist's apartment, and transpose the gender of the characters.

Penned by Roman Polanski's scriptwriter, Gerard Brach, "Wonderwall" is a mildly trippy look at obsession and repression, voyerism and sex. The plot is simplicity itself: a mild-mannered professor finds a spyhole in his living room which allows him to become involved in a world of young, Mod, Londoners (circa 1967). Through this hole (his "wonderwall") the professor becomes entwined in a world of fantasy and sexual chemistry and becomes both transformed and the transformer. Directed by the talented Joe Massot (also known for directing Zeppelin's "Song Remains the Same" and the equally wonderfully weird "Zachariah"), "Wonderwall" is filled with bright colour, groovy sounds and a decidedly 60's visual style. It's also been digitally spiffed up and features extended soundtrack music (by George Harrison). My only personal disappointment is with Jack MacGowran, who plays the professor. While he is a brilliant actor, and was wonderful in "How I Won The War", I find him slightly miscast here. But, all-in-all, "Wonderwall" is a minor treat.

The recent demise of George Harrison has prompted renewed interest in his work.

This movie, originally released in England in 1968, was more notable in it's release for George Harrison's sondtrack than for the movie itself.

The soundtrack demonstrated that despite his interest in Indian music and Hindu religion, George had not lost his touch in the writing of songs. His expanding musical tastes are well illustrated here with most of the tracks using indian instruments. There are also aspects of the bizarre with the honky tonk piano of one track being speeded up and the track with the heavy metal riff played by Eric Clapton.

Readers might think it strange that a review of the DVD should focus so much on the music but my rationale in doing so lies more in my perception of George Harrison. Allow me to explain. A lot of the movies of the period were smitten with the sex, drugs and rock'n'roll of the sixties. A number of cinematographers were themselves users of mind altering chemicals and it shows. It is easy to characterise Wonderwall as another Magical Mystery Tour, especially given that one particular person was involved in both ventures but I believe that perception to be wrong.

George Harrison, the Quiet One (sorry George) was known to have a quick wit, which endeared him so much to Lennon, and a sharp sense of humour. This, for me at least, is the key. Wonderwall is a quirky, semi-psychedelic comedy which explains Harrison's involvement. The music reflects his perceptions as it changes scenes. It is easy to be reminded of MMT but it also reminds me of Barabarella. Set in the context of British comedy at the time one can see the influences of the Goons, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, the alternative comedy which was to evolve into Monty Python and Not the Nine O'Clock News and Do Not Adjust Your Set.

Perceived at this level it shows that the original perception of the movie is lost on modern audiences that is Wonderwall has not stood the test of time. Put in the context of the life of the Dark Horse, this movie marks an early stage in his interests in film making and gives us an insight into what made him laugh.

This is the perfect relaxing movie to watch when you are doing something else like reading the paper or writing a poem. The movie is about a stuffy, scientist, going through a midlife crisis, that falls in love with a model that he peers at through holes in his back wall. The movie is essentially a sesame-street-level version of Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse. The dialogue is so infrequent and unnecessary that this might as well have been filmed as a silent movie, except for the wonderful, druggy, experimental, 60's soundtrack by George Harrison. You'll probably find the music to be sumptuous, and enjoyable if you have old Tangerine Dream records and like early Pink Floyd. The female lead, which appears mostly as a dreamy image, is played by Jane Birkin. If you get a chance, find an old 45 she recorded during this era (that was banned by the Vatican) calle JeTemm (sp?). She has an orgasm on the record. The 45 was a big hit in Europe. In any case, the movie is so slow moving, that despite some incredible images (wait until you see the dandy driving the green car), this movie is only watchable if you are doing something else. Brian Eno and others have waxed eloquently about the benefits of listening to really good "ambient music" while you are doing other things, to help inspire you and relax you and tittilate you without overwhelming your senses and choking your industry. Well, this is a first rate "ambient film." This is a really fine movie to have on the TV while you are painting a watercolor or writing an old friend a thoughtful letter.

One will likely struggle to persevere through this movie, but the last three minutes is suddenly so firmly grounded that, depending on one's life experience, it can be rewarding beyond belief. The story is set in the psychedelic mod period of the late 1960s, but it is not really about the drug culture, and in fact infers that the doors of cosmic perception are open to all. While the visuals are amateurish, and George Harrison's excellent soundtrack is often distractingly out of sync with the action, the movie persists as a multilayered exposition of the most essential themes of existence: A dysfunctional voyeuristic scientist finds courage, redemption and insight in a simple selfless act. A neighbor's pregnancy becomes an engine of destiny for him as he is blessed with the burden of comprehending that its prerogatives will ultimately destroy his heartfelt daydreams. As a scientist he is at ease in the world of the very small and very large, where human perception and understanding trails off, and he becomes increasingly cognizant that the great beyond is the heart of existence, that it is our world that is on the fringe. Finally an awareness of unacknowledged love and thanks infuses him and he becomes at peace with what, to any onlooker, would seem to be a most empty lonely life. I have viewed and appreciated the most essential movies committed to film, and I have never seen one which, upon reflection, is more meaningful than this one.

As long as you expect to see a super funky, drug induced, trippy 1960's movie, you will love Wonderwall. Otherwise, you'll hate it so just go rent some lame action movie with Nicholas Cage in it and forget you ever heard of this fine peice of cinema.

...if you're going to get any pleasure out of this movie. Forgiving of a script and a plot that function mainly as a excuse to show off Jane Birkin's ample features to maximum effect. Forgiving of camerawork with a lens that was apparently smeared with Vaseline throughout each take and sound recording which defies every attempt to make the dialogue understandable (probably a good thing!). Otherwise, you might just as well get a copy of George Harrison's interesting music for this movie (if you can find it) and save yourself the ordeal of sitting through the movie itself. You'll be happier, trust me!