16mm, 59:00, col., Great Britain 1993, Director: John Maybury, Production:
Chiara Menage, Camera: John Mathieson, Art Director: Alan MacDonald, Cut: Gavin
Burridge, James Bygrave, Sound Design: Marvin Black, Actor: Rupert Everett,
Tilda Swinton, Eros Erosion
Painterly backgrounds consisting of mountains, deserts, seascapes, futuristic
cities and a moonscape which remind the viewer of paintings but were in fact
generated in the computer are used as a backdrop for electronic tableaux
vivants in which various characters meet. Transvestites, terrorists, fools,
devils, angels, newscasters, veiled women, a man on a pyre, handsome young men
dressed only in tennis socks who make love to each other. In between these
tableaux the main protagonists tell stories - some of them true, some
fictional, most of them erotic. The film takes it`s impetus from television`s
Cut up methods (blocks of commercials, satellite pictures), although here the
poetical structure is more important than the message.
Remembrance of Things Fast represents the culmination of director John
Maybury`s work in Video, which has developed alongside the technology itself,
and at time of writing can be considered truly State of the art. Made on a
shoestring 25,000 pound grant from the Arts Council and Channel 4, with
generous support from cutting Edge Facility House Soho 601, the film features,
among others, Rupert Everett, Tilda Swinton, and UK/US porn star Aiden Shaw.
The film draws on, and confronts, conventions of world television and satellite
broadcast, the fragmentary and chaotic nature of the medium and the
clichÇs of the three-minute attention span. At the same time replacing
the bland content of mainstream images with darker, more satirical observations
and studies.
The core of the film consists of a number of Talking Head narratives, drawn
from the intense personal experiences of the narrators.
The environment is surreal, a virtual reality, TV land: Landscapes and
imaginary cities enhanced by Marvin Black`s dark, dense soundtrack; a
cyberspace where the impossible is all too possible, within this parallel
world, a series of archetypes act, observe, and comment, informed by a strong
sexual sensibility.
The film`s fluid, non-linear structure has been informed by editing techniques
which have only become available since the time of its conception, and allows
for multiple interpretations. Comedy and tragedy, reality and invention,
confront and undermine each other at all times. The viewer is required to set
aside his or her cultural assumptions, social preconditioning and political
correctness for sixty minutes and concentrate on the film`s motto: True stories
visual lies.
Winner special jury prize Teddy Bear Berlin Film Festival Febr. 1994.
John Maybury: born in London 1958. Made first Super-8 films whilst studying
art at North East London Polytechnic. Began doing costume and set design on
Derek Jarman`s films in 1977 and making his own avant garde films in 1982.
Still works as a fine artist. Has made music videos for, among others, Neneh
Cherry and Sinead O`Connor (Nothing compares 2u). Has worked with Tilda Swinton
previously on his stage adaption, Man to Man (adapted from Manfred Karge).
Lives in London.
