Wednesday, April 22, 2009

BLOW UP - Herbie Hancock, The Yardbirds - "História de Um Fotógrafo" (1966)

Well, it seems like the mid-week blues have kind of turned Wednesday into Spy Thriller Mystery Killer-Diller Chiller nite lately, not exactly monsters, but I've been diggin' it, and I hope you have too! Tonight is no exception, cause when you want to talk about rock music in a 60's movie you have to talk about "Blowup!"

SOUNDCLIP NOT AVAILABLE

David Hemmings is Thomas, The Photographer!!

The statuesque Veruschka von Lehndorff, a real original supermodel plays herself!! When she modeled, she was just known only by her first name, Veruschka!!

So if for some strange reason, you don't know about this film, Thomas is shooting some fotos in a park, and Vanessa Redgrave as Jane, gets all hot and bothered over it, so he figures out something isn't right because she's rabid about getting the pictures from him, so he starts blowing them up, bigger and bigger until he starts seeing details like that gun in the bushes!

Director Michelangelo Antonioni had some funny vision as Thomas walks under this outcropping in his flat, and just barely clears it without bumping his head!!

These two frisky little birds, Jane Birkin in the back and Gillian Hills in front, pursue Thomas, and Director Antonioni uses them to full advantage!! Jane was billed solely as "The Blonde" and Gillian was billed as "The Brunette!" Hot!

Just seeing The Yardbirds with Keith Relf, Jimmy Page, and Jeff Beck in it, was then, and is now, well worth the price of admission, and the rest of the movie is pretty damn entertaining too. And you get all that without even mentioning that the meat of the soundtrack was written by a young man in his first major film outing, and still going by the name Herbert, an amazing musician who has gone from Miles to Rock-it and beyond, Mr. Herbie Hancock!! Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is a line up!!!!

Pretty funny set-up, as Thomas moves through the crowd to the throbbing beat of "Stroll On", and I couldn't, and I sure you won't be able to, not tap your foot or something, and yet the whole crowd is completely stoic, and never even twitches a muscle!!

Oh, did I say never? I meant never, like not until Jeff Beck smashes his guitar, and then, and only then, does the crowd go absolutely freakin' wild after he throws the broken neck into the crowd, and like a blushing bridesmaid at a wedding party catching the bride's corsage, Thomas ends up with the broken neck, and runs out into the night with the crowd pursuing him, and when he finally gets away, he just drops it on the sidewalk like a piece of garbage, and walks away!! What a statement!!! What a movie!!

13 comments:

  1. Good Ol' Tiny Bradshaw must have been rollin' in his grave when he heard that Stroll on version.

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  2. Great movie (and great music), however the woman in the park is played by Vanessa Redgrave not Sarah Miles, and Jane Birkin is actually the brunette.

    (sorry to nitpick!)

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  3. Actually, if it had been made in David Hemmings' later years, I think it would qualify as a monster movie!

    http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/39596000/jpg/_39596975_hemmings_203.jpg

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  4. Hey Janie,
    I was just testing to see if our readers were paying attention (actually I just screwed up.) You're absolutely correct about Vanessa Redgrave, but that blonde IS Jane Birkin, I know that's correct! Thanx!!

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  5. did you catch the Mad Magazine version of this film? i'm sure there's no way in Hell you could predict that they called it- "Throw Up!"

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  6. Sorry to insist, but the brunette is Birkin, I have a T-shirt with her on and there aren't many women who look that disturbingly like Mick Jagger while remaining hot. You can google image search if you don't believe me!

    Doesn't really matter though, I guess.

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  7. Although, I searched Gillian Hills and now I have a nagging doubt.

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  8. Janie,
    The funniest thing is, I was going to tell you to use google to prove my point too. I was just watching part of the movie again, and Jane Birkin & David Hemmings were both in the 5'8" range, and are looking almost eye to eye, and the brunette is much shorter. What I think is, your tee shirt has a picture of Gillian Hills on it!!!

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  9. Look like Eegah!! post BLOWUP in face!

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  10. WOW! This film is almost too highbrow for this Web site!

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  11. What I think is, your tee shirt has a picture of Gillian Hills on it!!!Nah, it's just women with weird facial geometry tend to look pretty similar in make-up I guess.

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  12. Hi 13 guys-

    'Monty Python's' Michael Palin before he was 'Monty Python's Michael Palin' is one of the extras in the Yardbirds crowd club scene = he's the guy with the 'stache between the glasses guy w/ the 'No. 6' piping
    on his jacket and the 'hippie-ish' lookin guy.
    Heard Palin himself say this on NPR.
    Be seeing you...

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  13. Thanx Mr. On, that's a tasty little tidbit of information!!

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