NP obscure '65 LSD reference
Doug Millison
millison at online-journalist.com
Mon Nov 13 10:44:11 CST 2000
This appeared on the maps.org list. It reminded me of the way Pynchon
slips in the L.S.D. reference in GR.
>From: PACAYACITY at aol.com
>Date: Sun, 12 Nov 2000 00:11:58 EST
>Subject: MAPS: Wonderwall: film review
>
>
>WONDERWALL: Film Review
>
>This recently-released 1965 art film is being billed as a "lost classic of
>psychedelic surrealism". It is an entertaining light-hearted love story set
>in London. Beatles fans will enjoy the unusual soundtrack by George
>Harrison. The opening shot resembles a light show from a Jimi Hendrix
>concert. This pulsating abstract imagery turns out to be microorganisms
>which are being scrutinized under a microscope by a stodgy biologist known as
>"the professor".
>
>This absentminded professor has even fewer social skills than a 1980's
>computer nerd. He has more affection for his lab rats than for other people,
>and probably suffers from schizoid personality disorder. His drab cluttered
>apartment, with its "pack rat" décor, is haunted by his mother's ghost. The
>stability of the professor's dreary existence is unhinged by the discovery of
>a small opening in the wall. This peephole permits him to spy into the home
>of a gorgeous fashion model who lives next door. The professor is not really
>a voyeur. However, after so many years of devotion to his microscope, he is
>only capable of perceiving reality by peering at it through a tiny hole. The
>Wonderwall hole reveals an amazing realm of sensory delight. Yet the
>infatuated professor discovers that despite her glamorous lifestyle, the
>beautiful woman may be even less happy than himself.
>
>Clever low-budget special effects are in the cinematic tradition of Dali &
>Bunuel, and also of Jean Cocteaue's Orpheus. The animated fluttering
>butterfly scene is mildly reminiscent of the short hallucinatory cartoon in
>Hitchcock's Vertigo. The only drug references are the polychromatic
>psychedelic murals inside the model's apartment, a scene of her smoking a
>hookah, and the letters "L" and "D" positioned above and below the "S" logo
>on the shirt of a Superman costume. The complete absence of profanity and
>violence make this quaint period piece a refreshing alternative to the
>vulgarity that permeates most multi-million dollar commercial films being
>mass-marketed today. Recommended for viewers of all ages. For more info,
>see wonderwallfilm.com.
>
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