|
Sound UbuWeb |
Mick Jagger (b. 1943) 1. "Invocation Of My Demon Brother" A Soundtrack By Mick Jagger 1969, 11 minutes NOTES Concept, direction, camera, and editing by Kenenth Anger. Sound by Mick Jagger (Moog synthesizer). Filmed in San Francisco. Cast: Speed Hacker (Wand-bearer), Lenore Kandel (Deaconess), William Beutel (Deacon), Kenneth Anger (Magus), Van Leuven (Acolyte), Harvey Bialy (Brother), Timotha (Sister), Anton Szandor La Vey (Satan), Bobby Beausoleil (Lucifer). A concentrated Magickal collage founded on the confrontation of opposites in which Lucifer, the Bringer of Light, is called forth. In 1967, the footage for Anger's Lucifer Rising was stolen by Anger's Lucifer, Bobby Beausoleil, who was later convicted for his participation in the Charles Manson murders. After a sever depression and a public renunciation of filmmaking via a full-page In Memoriam in The Village Voice, Anger entered a new period of productivity during which he made Invocation from the original Lucifer Rising. Invocation of My Demon Brother (Arrangement in Black and Gold). The shadowing forth of Our Lord Lucifer, as the Powers of Darkness gater at midnnight mass. The dance of the Magus widdershins around the Swirling Spiral Force, the solar swastika, until the Bringer of Light - Lucifer - breaks through. "The true Magick of Horus requires the passionate union of opposites" - Aleister Crowley (Kenneth Anger) It is Anger's most metaphysical film: here he eschews literal connections, makes the images jar against one another, and does not create a center of gravity though which the collage is to be interpreted, as the images of Christ could be interpreted through the actions of the motorcyclists in Scorpio or as the images of Crowley could be interpreted through the ritual of Inauguration. Thus deprived of a center of gravity,e very image has equal weight in the film, and more than ever before in an Anger film, the burden of synthesis falls upon the viewer. (P. Adams Sitney) INVOCATION OF MY DEMON BROTHER The most daemonic of Anger's films, as well as the most fast moving. The style of Anger really comes through during this film. Invocation is composed of the remaining footage of what was projected to be Lucifer Rising filmed in San Francisco in 1966 - 1968. After lead actor Bobby Beausoleil had a falling out with Anger the primary footage was stolen from the filmmaker's home, which inspired Kenneth to take out an obituary in the Village Voice in 1968. He later moved to London and met up with Mick Jagger. Kenneth by this time began editing two other versions of what was to be Lucifer Rising, although by the final edit it had taken on a different form which led to the incarnation of "Invocation of my Demon Brother", a wonderful collage of sonic terror and subversion and fast paced ritual ambiance which found the union of the circle and the swastika, a swirling power source of solar energy. To quote Tony Rayns: "Invocation of my Demon Brother is a fast moving, very concentrated collage of Magick elements, in effect like the last thirty seconds of Scorpio extended to ten minutes. Anger calls it 'my most out-front-film'. A satyr pipes (an equivalent to the three knocks at the start of the Aquarium Arcanum which Anger used as a prologue to Pleasure Dome, but has now dropped) and the wand bearer wakes to begin the ritual: a Midnight Mass where the powers of Darkness gather to 'shadow forth' Lucifer. Kenneth Anger himself as the Magus, his face black and gold, great flowing robe, bathed in red light, dances with passionate energy around the Swirling Spiral Force, the solar swastika. The Powers: the Acolyte, the Brother and Sister of the Rainbow, his Satanic Majesty, assist and participate. Joke: a hurried procession down the stairs , but a scorpion stings in the tail: "ZAP Your pregnant, that's witchcraft". Pause: the Magus with a copy of Crowley's novel Moonchild. Renewed force, flame, and a cremation. The Magus dances, is triumphant, exults, the solar swastika in one hand, flaming script in the other. And Lucifer Breaks through..." The complexity and detailed work of Anger really presents itself in this short film. Invocation was made on A,B and C film rolls, and the C roll is one image made into a loop, the soldiers jumping from the helicopter. The music of the film is cutting, ugly and nerve wracking, composed by Mick Jagger on a Moog Synthesizer. Anger referred to it as 'an attack on the sensorium'. I recommend highly Invocation of my Demon Brother. This film is available on Video cassette with the Lucifer Rising film on the same tape. Available from Mystic Fire Video. -Michael Ford 1999 |