"Except for the point, the still point,
There would be no dance, and there is only the dance."
-T.S. Eliot-

EarthlingZ Weblog: Memory Layne

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Memory Layne

(SCROLL DOWN FOR ENGLISH)
昔々、20世紀に、ほとんどケンブリッジで知り合った詩人、画家、音楽家と、ええと、哲学者の何人かがロンドンに引越し、クロムウェルロードの101番の建物に住むようになりました。そこで間もなく、ティモシー・リアリのLSD実験にかかわっていたマイケル・ホリングスヘッドという人がアメリカから渡ってきました。間もなく、101番はアシッド・ヘッドの集合場所となり、その後ピンク・フロイドのメンバーとなった人もいました。その時期に親友であるNigel Lesmoir-Gordonがこの短い映画を作製し、映画について次のコメントをしています。
「1966年にロンドンで映画学校を通っていた時、常に8mmのカメラを持ち歩き、面白い場面に出会えたら、撮影していました。夏休みにケンブリッジで友達を訪ねたとき、アシッド数人分を持って、友達と一緒にトリップしようと思いました。子供のころによく遊んでいたケンブリッジの近くのローマン・ウッヅの白亜坑にトリップすることにしました。アシッドを食べて、決まった瞬間に私が撮影をし始めました。どうしてかわからないが、そのときにシッド・バレットに注目し、彼がその日の映画のメインキャラクターになりました。
今もその映画は1966年の撮影のままで見れます。純粋で、編集はまったくされていません。バレットのように子供っぽい無邪気を感じる映画だと思います。」
ナイジェルそのものは101番で撮影された映画の後半に登場しています。バルコニーにいるシャツを着てない人です。

Once upon a time in the 20th century, a number of poets, painters, musicians and...umm.. philosophers, most of whom had known each other at Cambridge, moved to London and all lived on several floors of 101 Cromwell Road. Before long, a guy named Michael Hollingshead arrived from the US, where he had been involved with Timothy Leary in his experiments with LSD. Before long, 101 became a major center of acidheads, among whom were several of the people who soon formed Pink Floyd. It was at this time that my good friend Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon made this short film, about which he offers this comment:
"When I was at film school in London in 1966 I used to take an 8mm camera with me everywhere and if there was anything worth filming, I shot it.
I was visiting friends in Cambridge in the Summer and I had taken several LSD trips with me to share with them all. We decided to trip at our old childhood haunt in the chalk pits at the Roman Woods in the Gog Magog Hills just east of Cambridge. We took the acid and as soon as it kicked in I started filming and, for some reason, which I cannot remember now, I focused in on Syd Barrett and let him become the subject of my film that day.
The film as it is viewable now is still as I shot it in the camera in 1966. Pure. The material has never been edited. It works well as it is and has a Barrett-like childish innocence about it, which I really like."
Nigel can be seen in the latter half of the film, shot at 101. He's the guy with no shirt on the balcony.

2 Comments:

At 10:19 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

101 Cromwell is London't Swingin 60s version of Paris' Beat Hotel - the late 50s, early 60s unlimited hang-out for all manner of poets, artists &c.

Can anybody persuade Miles to write a history of Cromwell much like he did for 9 rue Git-Le-Coeur?

 
At 10:29 AM, Blogger FLOATING WORLD WEB said...

Miles never lived at Cromwell Road, though. I suppose hecould interview lots of people, though. Maybe someday I'll write something about it...if I can remember enough.

 

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