http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=68024
15-06-2008
Ah, Sunflower - the title is derived from William Blake – records
Allen Ginsberg's trip to London in the summer of 1967. Twelve years
after the debut of Howl at the Six Gallery, he was arguably enjoying
the peak of celebrity during this period: aligned with the hippy and
flower power movements (the latter phrase, it has been said, he was
the first to vocalise) and friend to many of the key figures of the
day. Indeed, during the snippets of interview found here he is prone
to the occasional name-drop, at one point mentioning "Paul", meaning
McCartney of course. His reason for being the city at the time was
the exhaustively titled Congress for the Dialectics of Liberation
(for the Demystification of Violence) where he was joined onstage by
other such notables as R.D. Laing, Emmet Grogan and Black Panther
Stokely Carmichael.
The Roundhouse debate forms only a portion of Robert Klinkert and
Iain M. Sinclair's documentary. At a brief 29-minutes it is best seen
as an accompaniment to Sinclair's book The Kodak Mantra Diaries,
which recorded the period in a far more exhaustive – and experimental
– fashion. In fact, Ah, Sunflower, in strictly filmic terms, may best
be seen as a sidebar in the sub-genre, if you will, known as 'Beat
Cinema'. It jostles for prominence amongst the early works of Shirley
Clarke and Robert Frank (most notable, of course, being Pull My
Daisy), not to mention documentary pieces such as Peter Whitehead's
Wholly Communion (released onto DVD last year as part of the BFI's
sixties' Whitehead compilation) or Jerry Aronson's 1986 feature The
Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg. That said, this shouldn't be
considered an insignificant or inferior work – in many ways it proves
to be quite remarkable.
As Sinclair notes in the accompanying Debriefing featurette, he was
quite astounded that Ah, Sunflower even came to be. Finance was
arranged, by Klinkert, with a European television station, the format
was simple 16mm colour film, and the participation of Ginsberg, Laing
and others was more the result of sheer cheek than anything else.
Furthermore, the first couple of days filming was ruined owing to a
fairly rudimentary camera operating error, yet the general good
nature of those involved allowed interviews to be re-conducted and
for the resulting film to exist. Equally fascinating is the ability
to see Ginsberg, figurehead of the US counter-culture scene, outside
of his home environment; here he's not at Haight-Ashbury or Greenwich
Village, but on Primrose Hill and in Hyde Park.
In simple documentary terms Ah, Sunflower isn't especially
remarkable, though the age and inexperience of its filmmakers (both
in their early twenties) no doubt played a part. Compare it to
Sinclair's later collaborations with Chris Petit – particularly the
trilogy for Channel Four which is positively screaming for out for a
distinguished DVD release – and it seems borderline amateurish. Not
that this is meant as a dig; the vérité style and the sympathetic ear
of those behind the camera allows for great ease from Ginsberg and
the rest. As Laing sits in his bare flat (save for a fridge and
record player, we are told) or Ginsberg chats with a youth atop
Primrose Hill it feels as though we're viewing their natural
characters without supposition. And so whilst concrete facts may be
few and far between – Ginsberg offers the briefest of
autobiographies, elsewhere theorising is the calling of the day - Ah,
Sunflower certainly provides a valuable document.
The Disc
With Sinclair's participation in this release, it's safe to say he
had approval of its presentation. Given its age and the 16mm format
Ah, Sunflower is by no means perfect on this front, though it's hard
to fault the disc itself. The sound likewise fluctuates, but I'm
comfortable in saying the film looks as good as we are ever likely to
see. The colours are strong, the original 1.37:1 aspect ratio is
correctly adhered to and we never once struggle in following
proceedings. Optional English subtitles would have been a welcome
addition, yet it's worth bearing in mind that it's a small-scale
label, namely The Picture Press, which is allowing Ah, Sunflower an
outlet on shiny disc. As such the presence of the accompanying
featurette, a 35-minute piece entitled Debriefing, is all the more
welcome. Presented in anamorphic 1.78:1, it talks to Sinclair, Chris
Oakley and Gareth Evans in the present-day surroundings of the
Roundhouse. Each offers a slightly different insight: Sinclair
provides the personal context as well as a London one (hardly
surprising given the nature of his writings over the years); Oakley
provides the cultural context with especial interest given to Laing;
and Evans goes for a more cinema-inspired angle. Together, the three
cover all bases – a worthy companion to the main event. (As with Ah,
Sunflower itself, optional subtitles are not present.)
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