Listening to the Animals the other day reminded me that I once was quite fond of Alan Price's soundtrack to the 1973 Lindsey Anderson film O Lucky Man! I haven't seen or heard either in many years. As I listen to the soundtrack now I find I still like the main song a fair bit. Though I haven't seen that movie in ages I still remember little bits of it. It sure made an impression on me when I was 20. Watching it on YouTube brought back some of those impressions. It's a nice mix of humor, drama, fantasy and politics all tied together by musical interludes with Alan Price on the piano. I decided to put it on my library queue to see the part that isn't on YouTube. The dvd will also look much better. It's got Malcolm McDowell in the title role and you know he's always worth a look at, especially at this early stage in his career. The movie he did before OLM was A Clockwork Orange and you know what a great turn that was. It's a movie I don't watch much any more. I have a funny story about going to see it for the first time. Maybe I'll tell it to you sometime.
In O Lucky Man Malcolm is a young coffee salesman, he starts his new route in the north east of England. He meets lots of interesting people and he has quite an adventure along the bumpy path that leads him to the end of the film. It's just over three hours long and it's particularly weird and chaotic. With all the odd things happening, and all the twists and turns in the plot, the movie is definitely the kind of film that would polarise the audience. I found it to be highly entertaining when I first saw it. I saw it a couple of times in the theater when it first showed up in Winnipeg. In the 1980's I had a vhs copy from tv or a rented video tape. My copy was at ep and probably didn't look that good so it got taped over when tapes got cheap enough to record everything at the 2 hour speed. I never replaced it or bought the dvd. I never had a desire to see it again until the other day and it's a vague and passing interest.
Lindsey Anderson's If.. is not quite as long, only 154 minutes, and it too would appeal to a certain audience. More the art house crowd or people who like Janus Films or Criterion releases. This 1968 film is Malcolm McDowell's very first role. I remember liking it when I saw it in the early 70's. Just dipping into it on YouTube reminds me how much I would have hated going to an English Boys school. I'm undecided on rewatching the whole thing from beginning to end. Maybe later.
Anderson did a third installment to the Mick Travis trilogy called Britannia Hospital. I haven't seen that since it was new. I never liked it much then and still might not now. I don't plan to find out anytime soon. I have plenty to watch right now, thanks.
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