Monday, August 4, 2008

Privilege


Four years ago, all but impossible to see a Peter Watkins´ film unless you happened to catch a rare print at a museum or repertory screening. Forget DVD, many of his films weren´t even available on VHS. Oliver Groom and Project X (in cooperation with New Yorker for the USA release) have performed an extraordinary service over the last several years in correcting this outrageous situation. They have now released either as main features or as extras all eight of Watkins´ films from 1959-1974 as well as "The Freethinker" (1994). Add in First Run Features release of Watkins´ latest (and nearly greatest) film "La Commune" (2000) and suddenly the bulk of Watkins´ work is now available to anyone with a Netflix account or the spare change to buy some truly great DVDs.

It´s hard for me to believe that just a few years ago I had never seen a Peter Watkins´ film. Each new release has been a revelation. I consider Watkins one of the greatest living directors, and I consider the release of his films over the last several years to be the single most important event in the DVD universe over that timeframe.

"Privilege" (1967) is the newest Project X release, and it´s an oddity in the Watkins´ oeuvre. It´s his only studio pic, filmed for Universal during that brief period when "art movies" were considered hot commodities that could reach a mainstream audience, an almost inconceivable thought today. Watkins also usually serves as writer/director but in this case he works from a script by Norman Bogner from a story by John Speight.

Watkins´ career has, in large part, involved an ongoing critique of the mass media´s role in distorting information and shaping culture. In "Privilege" Watkins depicts a (very) near-future in which the British government works directly with the media to create a pop sensation known as Steven Shorter (Paul Jones, the first singer for Manfred Mann). Steven Shorter is not just a pop singer, he is the pop singer: in the film we see no evidence that anyone else still exists as competition. Steven Shorter has become the singular obsession of an entire nation, which is precisely what the Ministry of Culture has planned. Steven is a powerful tool designed to distract an entire generation of kids from thinking about nasty things like politics or protests, and to focus on gossip and shopping instead.

Steven is a rebel with a bit of a violent streak because his marketers have calculated that this will rope in the kids and make them more receptive when Steven suddenly repents his "youthful indiscretions" and implores everyone to conform. Unfortunately, there´s a fly in the ointment in the form of Vanessa Ritchie (super model Jean Shrimpton in her only film role), an artists commissioned to paint a portrait of Steven. She strikes up a halting and occasionally passionate romance with the tragic superstar that eventually prompts him to rebel against his keepers who are then forced to scramble to maintain the status quo.

The most obvious influence on "Privilege" is Leni Riefenstahl´s "Triumph of the Will." Watkins uses the aesthetics from Riefenstahl´s nauseating yet beautiful propaganda film as the model for the Steven Shorter rallies staged by the British government, even with goose-stepping officers lining up with hands raises stiffly towards the sky. This would be provocative even today, but just twenty years after the end of WW2 it must have been truly offensive to some, and at least in part explains why the film fared so poorly at the box office and was seldom seen again after its initial run except on college campuses.

Four years ago, all but impossible to see a Peter Watkins´ film unless you happened to catch a rare print at a museum or repertory screening. Forget DVD, many of his films weren´t even available on VHS. Oliver Groom and Project X (in cooperation with New Yorker for the USA release) have performed an extraordinary service over the last several years in correcting this outrageous situation. They have now released either as main features or as extras all eight of Watkins´ films from 1959-1974 as well as "The Freethinker" (1994). Add in First Run Features release of Watkins´ latest (and nearly greatest) film "La Commune" (2000) and suddenly the bulk of Watkins´ work is now available to anyone with a Netflix account or the spare change to buy some truly great DVDs.

It´s hard for me to believe that just a few years ago I had never seen a Peter Watkins´ film. Each new release has been a revelation. I consider Watkins one of the greatest living directors, and I consider the release of his films over the last several years to be the single most important event in the DVD universe over that timeframe.

"Privilege" (1967) is the newest Project X release, and it´s an oddity in the Watkins´ oeuvre. It´s his only studio pic, filmed for Universal during that brief period when "art movies" were considered hot commodities that could reach a mainstream audience, an almost inconceivable thought today. Watkins also usually serves as writer/director but in this case he works from a script by Norman Bogner from a story by John Speight.

Watkins´ career has, in large part, involved an ongoing critique of the mass media´s role in distorting information and shaping culture. In "Privilege" Watkins depicts a (very) near-future in which the British government works directly with the media to create a pop sensation known as Steven Shorter (Paul Jones, the first singer for Manfred Mann). Steven Shorter is not just a pop singer, he is the pop singer: in the film we see no evidence that anyone else still exists as competition. Steven Shorter has become the singular obsession of an entire nation, which is precisely what the Ministry of Culture has planned. Steven is a powerful tool designed to distract an entire generation of kids from thinking about nasty things like politics or protests, and to focus on gossip and shopping instead.

Steven is a rebel with a bit of a violent streak because his marketers have calculated that this will rope in the kids and make them more receptive when Steven suddenly repents his "youthful indiscretions" and implores everyone to conform. Unfortunately, there´s a fly in the ointment in the form of Vanessa Ritchie (super model Jean Shrimpton in her only film role), an artists commissioned to paint a portrait of Steven. She strikes up a halting and occasionally passionate romance with the tragic superstar that eventually prompts him to rebel against his keepers who are then forced to scramble to maintain the status quo.

The most obvious influence on "Privilege" is Leni Riefenstahl´s "Triumph of the Will." Watkins uses the aesthetics from Riefenstahl´s nauseating yet beautiful propaganda film as the model for the Steven Shorter rallies staged by the British government, even with goose-stepping officers lining up with hands raises stiffly towards the sky. This would be provocative even today, but just twenty years after the end of WW2 it must have been truly offensive to some, and at least in part explains why the film fared so poorly at the box office and was seldom seen again after its initial run except on college campuses.

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