Sympathy for the Devil (1968 film)

Sympathy for the Devil (originally titled 1 + 1; also One Plus One, by the film director, and distributed under that title in Europe) is a 1968 avant-garde film shot mostly in color by director Jean-Luc Godard, his first British made, English language film. It is a composite film, juxtaposing documentary, fictional scenes and dramatised political readings. It is most notable for its scenes documenting the creative evolution of the song "Sympathy for the Devil" as the Rolling Stones developed it during recording sessions at Olympic Studios in London.
Composing the film's main narrative thread are several long, uninterrupted shots of the Rolling Stones in London's Olympic Studios, recording and re-recording various parts to "Sympathy for the Devil". The dissolution of Stone Brian Jones is vividly portrayed, and the chaos of 1968 is made clear when a line referring to the killing of John F. Kennedy is heard changed to the plural after the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in June.
Interwoven through the movie are outdoor shots of Black Panthers loitering in a junkyard littered with rusting cars heaped upon each other. They read from revolutionary texts (including Amiri Baraka and Eldridge Cleaver) and toss their rifles to each other, from man to man.....(read more at Wikipedia)
== Links To Peel ==
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While Peel is not known to have seen Godard's film or mentioned it on-air or in his journalism, he did interview one member of the film's cast, Black Panther Frankie Dymon, who discussed the film and his role on the Night Ride of 30 October 1968.
In 1968 Jean-luc Godard was a cult figure, so there were high expectations for his film and he was interviewed for International Times by Hermine Demoriane, later known simply as Hermine. But Godard had reached a point in his career where he was interested in conveying political messages in his films, rather than telling stories in traditional narrative style. Perhaps because of this, Godard's English producer added a completed version of "Sympathy For The Devil" to the ending of the film, and in a famous incident at the 1968 London Film Festival a furious Godard punched his producer in the face because of this. But while Peel never showed himself a fan of Godard's film, he did feature the Rolling Stones' Beggars Banquet album on Top Gear.
Later, another Godard appeared on Peel shows - Vic Godard, founder of Subway Sect, who adopted Godard as a stage name. His real name was Victor John Napper, so he followed the punk fashion of taking a more attention-grabbing name. However, if he was inspired by Jean-Luc Godard, known as a famous provocateur and thus of interest to the punk generation, he doesn't seem to have mentioned it.
== External Links ==
*Wikipedia
*IMDb
Category:Films