In
the mid-Eighties, at a UCLA conference on the subject of collaborative art, I
met and interviewed the film director Jonathan Demme, who went on to great
success as the director of such movies as "The Silence of the Lambs",
"Philadelphia" and “The Manchurian Candidate”. His recent concert movie "Neil
Young: Heart of Gold" was shot during Young's performance in Nashville; a
performance that marked something of a comeback after the musician's recovery
from a brain tumor.Demme has a long history of
collaborating with musicians, and has shot videos and movies for Talking Heads,
New Order, Bruce Springsteen, and The Pretenders.
Obviously extremely nervous, when it came Demme's turn to
present at the conference he avoided the grandiose statements about the nature
of collaborative art that characterized some of the other presentations.
Instead, he relied on showing clips of his own work in describing the various
stages of production involved in making his films. Each of these stages relies
on collaboration between artists in different fields and Demme placed a premium
on good communication between the director and his co-workers. His success in
achieving this was illustrated by the clip he showed from his film "Melvin and
Howard", for which he received the Best Director award from the New York Film
Critics Circle.
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The high spot of the day, however, was his new film, a short
promotional piece for "The Perfect Kiss", a song by the English band New Order.
Prior to the suicide of their singer Ian Curtis, they were known as Joy
Division, and were consistently the most vital force of their time in English
music. Just one song, "Love Will Tear Us Apart", and aching, unflawed gem of a
record, would be sufficient to give them that reputation. "The Perfect Kiss"
doesn't reach those heights, but accompanied by a beautiful film, which simply
shows the band performing the song, it is a worthy successor.
It is the film's simplicity which lends it appeal. There's no
story line, no interpretation to intrude on the music. Talking with Demme after
the seminar, he explained his approach.
"I think that it's kind of refreshing to see straightforward
performance, and this one's live, which is so rare on MTV. It's not lip sync,
it's not pantomiming."
The intensity which New Order brings to their music has left
them open to charges of being arrogant and aloof, but "The Perfect Kiss"
disproves that. They are simply very involved in their work, and disinterested
in the theatrics which so many rock musicians employ. The film employs a series
of close up shots which showcase the talents of lighting designer on Henri
Alekan. He had previously worked with the French director, John Cocteau, on
"Beauty and the Beast", and was enticed out of retirement at the age of 79 to
work with Demme.
"When I realized that New Order liked this idea of doing it in
close-ups, it occurred to me that the lighting had to be especially agreeable. I
thought it should be done in a classical kind of way, so I thought we should get
one of the great masters. Somebody suggested Henri Alekan, and he was pleased to
do it. I gave him free rein ... I said, just make yourself happy".
The effect of his influence is stunning. The film is lit with
a delicate subtlety, reminiscent of European films of the late 40s and early
50s. One small directorial intrusion lends a ghostly quality to "The Perfect
Kiss"; a figure is silhouetted through the door of the studio where the band is
playing, a figure reminiscent of Ian Curtis, their dead singer. The impact of
this brief, five second shot is breathtaking.
Demme also showed part of his in-concert movie "Stop Making
Sense" and due to fortuitous scheduling, which had a jazz band playing in the
theatre that night, we were treated to a fabulous sound system. The skill with
which Demme transmits the excitement of a live Talking Heads show is infectious,
and the audience reacted strongly to a seething version of "Burning down the
House".
