In Robin Hardy's supremely creepy 1973 cult picture "The Wicker Man," a cop named Neil Howie (Edward Woodward) travels to a remote island called Summerisle to investigate the disappearance of a young girl. The citizens of Summerisle are secretive and strange and still abide by ancient Celtic religious rites. Howie, a devout Christian, is put off by their pagan weirdness. During his investigation, Howie stays at a local inn, The Green Man, overseen by Mr. McGregor (Lindsay Kemp) and his comely daughter Willow. Willow is sexually forward with Howie, something else he finds discomforting.
Later that night, while Howie attempts to sleep, Willow strips nude in her own room and gyrates seductively against the wall that neighbors Howie's. Howie can't see or hear it, but he seems to sense something strange is happening. Is she casting a spell of some kind?
It turns out that the nude body audiences saw dancing wasn't Ekland at all,...
Later that night, while Howie attempts to sleep, Willow strips nude in her own room and gyrates seductively against the wall that neighbors Howie's. Howie can't see or hear it, but he seems to sense something strange is happening. Is she casting a spell of some kind?
It turns out that the nude body audiences saw dancing wasn't Ekland at all,...
- 4/14/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
A classic film that not only endures but continues to inspire half a century later is a true marvel. Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, The Wicker Man helped popularize the folk horror genre that continues to flourish with the likes of Midsommar, The Witch, and The Ritual. Its impact extends beyond cinema, from inspiring Radiohead (“Burn the Witch”) and Iron Maiden (“The Wicker Man”) songs to being included in the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony.
In the film, Sergeant Neil Howie travels from the mainland to the Scottish island of Summerisle to investigate the disappearance of a young girl. The devout Christian is appalled to learn that the islanders practice a form of paganism characterized by blasphemous beliefs, degeneracy, doublespeak, and peculiar customs. Like The Bride of Frankenstein, the namesake doesn’t show up until the final moments of the film, but it leaves an indelible impression long after the credits roll.
In the film, Sergeant Neil Howie travels from the mainland to the Scottish island of Summerisle to investigate the disappearance of a young girl. The devout Christian is appalled to learn that the islanders practice a form of paganism characterized by blasphemous beliefs, degeneracy, doublespeak, and peculiar customs. Like The Bride of Frankenstein, the namesake doesn’t show up until the final moments of the film, but it leaves an indelible impression long after the credits roll.
- 11/3/2023
- by Alex DiVincenzo
- bloody-disgusting.com
Cult Horror Masterpiece, The Wicker Man, Arrives on a SteelBook in 4K Ultra HD October 17: "The cult horror masterpiece, The Wicker Man, arrives on a SteelBook® in 4K Ultra HD™ (+ Blu-ray™ + Digital) on October 17th from Lionsgate. Directed by Robin Hardy (The Fantasist), the film follows Police Sergeant Howie, as he investigates Lord Summerisle and his secretive pagan society. The Wicker Man will be available for the suggested retail price of $27.99."
Official Synopsis
When a young girl mysteriously vanishes, Police Sergeant Howie (Edward Woodward) travels to a remote Scottish island to investigate. But the seemingly quiet community is not as it appears, as the detective uncovers a secretive pagan society led by the strange Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee). While the townsfolk tempt and threaten him with bizarre rituals and wanton lust, Howie must race to discover the truth behind the girl's disappearance before his clash with Lord Summerisle builds...
Official Synopsis
When a young girl mysteriously vanishes, Police Sergeant Howie (Edward Woodward) travels to a remote Scottish island to investigate. But the seemingly quiet community is not as it appears, as the detective uncovers a secretive pagan society led by the strange Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee). While the townsfolk tempt and threaten him with bizarre rituals and wanton lust, Howie must race to discover the truth behind the girl's disappearance before his clash with Lord Summerisle builds...
- 8/24/2023
- by Jonathan James
- DailyDead
by Cláudio Alves
Sandy Powell's career has been closely tied to queer artistry since its genesis. After completing her education, the costume designer soon started collaborating with multi-hyphenated gay icon Lindsay Kemp whose stage work she had long admired, and, later, her jump from theater to film would be predicated on another queer genius, Derek Jarman. They'd work on four projects – Caravaggio, The Last of England, Edward II, and Wittgenstein – and the costumer would continue, keeping his memory alive after the director's death in 1994. Since then, even as her profile grew into the mainstream, Powell remained faithful to the idea and ideals of queerness in cinema, often joining forces with artists under the LGBTQ+ umbrella, Todd Haynes most of all.
As Pride Month 2023 reaches its end, let's remember this Academy darlings' first brush with Oscar. It was in 1993 when Sally Potter's adaptation of Virginia Woolf's Orlando earned Sandy...
Sandy Powell's career has been closely tied to queer artistry since its genesis. After completing her education, the costume designer soon started collaborating with multi-hyphenated gay icon Lindsay Kemp whose stage work she had long admired, and, later, her jump from theater to film would be predicated on another queer genius, Derek Jarman. They'd work on four projects – Caravaggio, The Last of England, Edward II, and Wittgenstein – and the costumer would continue, keeping his memory alive after the director's death in 1994. Since then, even as her profile grew into the mainstream, Powell remained faithful to the idea and ideals of queerness in cinema, often joining forces with artists under the LGBTQ+ umbrella, Todd Haynes most of all.
As Pride Month 2023 reaches its end, let's remember this Academy darlings' first brush with Oscar. It was in 1993 when Sally Potter's adaptation of Virginia Woolf's Orlando earned Sandy...
- 7/1/2023
- by Cláudio Alves
- FilmExperience
Three decades after her start in show business, Sandy Powell has made such a mark with her work, that “costume designer” is often not needed as a prefix because people know the name. And if they don’t, they know the Brit artisan’s face and her fiery orange hair.
The Academy Award-winning costume designer of such films as “The Aviator,” “Shakespeare in Love” and “The Young Victoria” is the recipient of Variety’s Creative Impact in Costume Design Award at the 24th annual Scad Savannah Film Festival on Oct. 29. Although she will not be present in person for the honor.
Straight out of college, Powell worked on music videos. Her first job, when she was 21, was with choreographer Lindsay Kemp, who had taught David Bowie, but the aspiring costume designer’s life would change when she met filmmaker Derek Jarman.
It was Jarman who introduced Powell to set life...
The Academy Award-winning costume designer of such films as “The Aviator,” “Shakespeare in Love” and “The Young Victoria” is the recipient of Variety’s Creative Impact in Costume Design Award at the 24th annual Scad Savannah Film Festival on Oct. 29. Although she will not be present in person for the honor.
Straight out of college, Powell worked on music videos. Her first job, when she was 21, was with choreographer Lindsay Kemp, who had taught David Bowie, but the aspiring costume designer’s life would change when she met filmmaker Derek Jarman.
It was Jarman who introduced Powell to set life...
- 10/23/2021
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
The costume designer on an embarrassing on-set confrontation and her love of sausage rolls
Born in London, Powell, 59, made costumes for the choreographer Lindsay Kemp in the 80s; she graduated to film after being mentored by Derek Jarman. She has won three Oscars and received the 2019 Costume Designers Guild award for The Favourite. Her next film is Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman, showing at the London film festival next month. On 12 September she takes part in a Behind the Scenes Q&a about independent film with Mark Kermode at Autograph Collection’s Bankside hotel in London.
What is your greatest fear?
Losing my sight or losing my mind.
Born in London, Powell, 59, made costumes for the choreographer Lindsay Kemp in the 80s; she graduated to film after being mentored by Derek Jarman. She has won three Oscars and received the 2019 Costume Designers Guild award for The Favourite. Her next film is Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman, showing at the London film festival next month. On 12 September she takes part in a Behind the Scenes Q&a about independent film with Mark Kermode at Autograph Collection’s Bankside hotel in London.
What is your greatest fear?
Losing my sight or losing my mind.
- 9/7/2019
- by Rosanna Greenstreet
- The Guardian - Film News
BBC has detailed David Bowie: The First Five Years, the third installment in a documentary trilogy covering the late icon’s career, which will premiere in 2019.
The upcoming film, arriving in the vicinity of Space Oddity‘s 50th anniversary, will provide an in-depth overview into Bowie’s early career, from the David Jones era to the dawn of Ziggy Stardust.
The First Five Years follows 2013’s Five Years, about five fruitful years in Bowie’s career, and 2017’s The Last Five Years, which covered the productive period toward the...
The upcoming film, arriving in the vicinity of Space Oddity‘s 50th anniversary, will provide an in-depth overview into Bowie’s early career, from the David Jones era to the dawn of Ziggy Stardust.
The First Five Years follows 2013’s Five Years, about five fruitful years in Bowie’s career, and 2017’s The Last Five Years, which covered the productive period toward the...
- 10/9/2018
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
The first five years of David Bowie’s career is to be the focus of a new documentary for the BBC – the third in a trilogy of docs about the Star Man singer.
David Bowie: The First Five Years will launch on the British public broadcaster’s BBC Two channel in 2019. It follows David Bowie: The Last Five Years, which was acquired by HBO, and David Bowie: Five Years in 2013. All three are produced and directed by Francis Whately.
Coming 50 years after the release of Space Oddity, the 90-minute film explores the Bowie before Ziggy Stardust, following the period from 1966 when he changed his name from David Jones to Bowie.
It includes footage from the BBC Archives including footage of a BBC audition in 1965 of David Bowie and the Lower Third, which included a performance of Chim-Chim-Cheree and Baby That’s A Promise.
David Bowie: The First Five Years will also feature unheard audio recordings,...
David Bowie: The First Five Years will launch on the British public broadcaster’s BBC Two channel in 2019. It follows David Bowie: The Last Five Years, which was acquired by HBO, and David Bowie: Five Years in 2013. All three are produced and directed by Francis Whately.
Coming 50 years after the release of Space Oddity, the 90-minute film explores the Bowie before Ziggy Stardust, following the period from 1966 when he changed his name from David Jones to Bowie.
It includes footage from the BBC Archives including footage of a BBC audition in 1965 of David Bowie and the Lower Third, which included a performance of Chim-Chim-Cheree and Baby That’s A Promise.
David Bowie: The First Five Years will also feature unheard audio recordings,...
- 10/8/2018
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Kate Bush issued a heartfelt statement about the late Lindsay Kemp, referring to the British dancer and choreographer – with whom she once studied and collaborated – as “truly original” and a “great artist of the stage.”
“To call him a mime artist is like calling Mozart a pianist,” she said in a note on her website. “He was very brave, very funny and above all, astonishingly inspirational. There was no-one quite like Lindsay. I was incredibly lucky to study with him, work with him and spend time with him. I loved...
“To call him a mime artist is like calling Mozart a pianist,” she said in a note on her website. “He was very brave, very funny and above all, astonishingly inspirational. There was no-one quite like Lindsay. I was incredibly lucky to study with him, work with him and spend time with him. I loved...
- 8/30/2018
- by Ryan Reed
- Rollingstone.com
Lindsay Kemp, a British dancer and choreographer who acted as a mentor and collaborator to David Bowie, died Saturday in Tuscany, Italy at the age of 80.
Nendi Pinto-Duschunsky, the director of the in-production documentary Lindsay Kemp’s Last Dance, confirmed Kemp’s death in a Facebook post where she noted he died at his home after a “perfect” day rehearsing with students. “He was very happy and it was very sudden,” Pinto-Duschunsky wrote, the Associated Press reported.
In addition to his own renowned work as a dancer and choreographer, Kemp...
Nendi Pinto-Duschunsky, the director of the in-production documentary Lindsay Kemp’s Last Dance, confirmed Kemp’s death in a Facebook post where she noted he died at his home after a “perfect” day rehearsing with students. “He was very happy and it was very sudden,” Pinto-Duschunsky wrote, the Associated Press reported.
In addition to his own renowned work as a dancer and choreographer, Kemp...
- 8/25/2018
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
British choreographer, mime and David Bowie mentor Lindsay Kemp died Saturday morning in Livorno, Italy. He was 80.
Director Nendie Pinto-Duschinsky, who was making a documentary about Kemp, told BBC News that he was “a force of nature” and still working until his death.
He was born near Liverpool in 1938 and “realized that I wanted to dance when I first realized anything at all,” he said. Kemp studied dance with Hilde Holger and mime with Marcel Marceau after being introduced to the art world through studying with painter David Hockney.
Kemp formed his own dance company in the 1960s, and found fame in 1974 when he brought his show “Flowers,” based on Jean Genet’s “Notre Dame des Fleurs,” to the Edinburgh festival.
He met Bowie in 1966 after one of Kemp’s shows at Covent Gardens, and Bowie went on to perform in his show “Pierrot in Turquoise.”
Bowie and Kemp had a brief relationship,...
Director Nendie Pinto-Duschinsky, who was making a documentary about Kemp, told BBC News that he was “a force of nature” and still working until his death.
He was born near Liverpool in 1938 and “realized that I wanted to dance when I first realized anything at all,” he said. Kemp studied dance with Hilde Holger and mime with Marcel Marceau after being introduced to the art world through studying with painter David Hockney.
Kemp formed his own dance company in the 1960s, and found fame in 1974 when he brought his show “Flowers,” based on Jean Genet’s “Notre Dame des Fleurs,” to the Edinburgh festival.
He met Bowie in 1966 after one of Kemp’s shows at Covent Gardens, and Bowie went on to perform in his show “Pierrot in Turquoise.”
Bowie and Kemp had a brief relationship,...
- 8/25/2018
- by Erin Nyren
- Variety Film + TV
Tony Sokol Jan 8, 2019
David Bowie played a lot of roles on stage, screen and studio, but he always stood out. We look back at his film career.
On Monday, January 11, 2016, the world woke up to the news that David Bowie had died on the 10th. His final album, Blackstar, turned out to be a personal farewell made during the final stages of terminal cancer that barely slowed the musician. The Thin White Duke’s final album was released on his 69th birthday, Jan. 8. This writer, among many, believed it told of a new beginning. In some ways it did. One of the music videos that accompanied the album showed Bowie frantically writing as if he had so much more to say.
Bowie, who was born in the rough Brixton section of south London, was one of the greats, up there with The Beatles, Elvis Presley – whose birthday he shared, Tchaikovsky,...
David Bowie played a lot of roles on stage, screen and studio, but he always stood out. We look back at his film career.
On Monday, January 11, 2016, the world woke up to the news that David Bowie had died on the 10th. His final album, Blackstar, turned out to be a personal farewell made during the final stages of terminal cancer that barely slowed the musician. The Thin White Duke’s final album was released on his 69th birthday, Jan. 8. This writer, among many, believed it told of a new beginning. In some ways it did. One of the music videos that accompanied the album showed Bowie frantically writing as if he had so much more to say.
Bowie, who was born in the rough Brixton section of south London, was one of the greats, up there with The Beatles, Elvis Presley – whose birthday he shared, Tchaikovsky,...
- 1/7/2015
- Den of Geek
The Wicker Man was recently given the ”Final Cut” treatment by director Robin Hardy for its 40th Anniversary. It was released in selected cinemas last month and is now being made available to own on blu-ray.
Anyone who missed it, you can check out my review of the final cut of ‘The Wicker Man’ here but in summary, it is the version you should see, despite it being shorter than ‘The Director’s Cut.” Not only does it flow better, but you also get a restored scene that introduces Christopher Lee as Lord Summerisle much earlier.
The blu-ray set doesn’t skimp on content and you get lot of value for your cash. Included are the different versions of The Wicker Man, complete with commentary, behind the scenes features and soundtrack.
Disc 1
The Final Cut Burnt Offering: The Cult of The Wicker Man documentary written by Mark Kermode Worshiping The Wicker Man...
Anyone who missed it, you can check out my review of the final cut of ‘The Wicker Man’ here but in summary, it is the version you should see, despite it being shorter than ‘The Director’s Cut.” Not only does it flow better, but you also get a restored scene that introduces Christopher Lee as Lord Summerisle much earlier.
The blu-ray set doesn’t skimp on content and you get lot of value for your cash. Included are the different versions of The Wicker Man, complete with commentary, behind the scenes features and soundtrack.
Disc 1
The Final Cut Burnt Offering: The Cult of The Wicker Man documentary written by Mark Kermode Worshiping The Wicker Man...
- 10/17/2013
- by Amarpal Biring
- Obsessed with Film
Stars: Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, Diane Cilento, Britt Ekland, Ingrid Pitt, Lindsay Kemp, Aubrey Morris | Written by Anthony Shaffer | Directed by Robin Hardy
It’s time once again for us to keep our appointment with The Wicker Man but this time as we’ve not seen him before. After long-thought to be lost footage was found and director Robin Hardy got back in the Wicker-way after the admittedly terrible sequel The Wicker Tree, we have here what is promised to be the ideal version of the film though interestingly, it’s not the most ” complete” version. Running longer than the truncated initial theatrical cut but shorter than the more recent Director’s Cut, this is instead an assemlage supervised by Hardy himself which is most true to what he believes is his intended version of the film.
Instead of being a Never Before Seen, Holy Crap Look At That Bit,...
It’s time once again for us to keep our appointment with The Wicker Man but this time as we’ve not seen him before. After long-thought to be lost footage was found and director Robin Hardy got back in the Wicker-way after the admittedly terrible sequel The Wicker Tree, we have here what is promised to be the ideal version of the film though interestingly, it’s not the most ” complete” version. Running longer than the truncated initial theatrical cut but shorter than the more recent Director’s Cut, this is instead an assemlage supervised by Hardy himself which is most true to what he believes is his intended version of the film.
Instead of being a Never Before Seen, Holy Crap Look At That Bit,...
- 10/17/2013
- by Ian Loring
- Nerdly
V&A, London
"David Bowie is": the title is an unfinished sentence, which gives the verb a subject but no object, and it suggests that Bowie is everything and perhaps nothing, a whirligig of dressed-up personae, not a person. To begin with, he isn't even David Bowie. He was born David Jones, then renamed by a bossy manager. But is he Bowie, like the knife, or should his adopted surname be pronounced Boughie, like the branch? Or is any earthly appellation just an alias for a man – if he is one, since he always enjoyed flaunting his androgyny – who once announced: "I am a cyborg"?
On a grey arch through which you pass into the V&A's multimedia circus, Bowie himself makes a grand statement that introduces the proceedings. "All art is unstable," he says. "There is no authoritative voice. There are only multiple readings." By talking this kind of talk,...
"David Bowie is": the title is an unfinished sentence, which gives the verb a subject but no object, and it suggests that Bowie is everything and perhaps nothing, a whirligig of dressed-up personae, not a person. To begin with, he isn't even David Bowie. He was born David Jones, then renamed by a bossy manager. But is he Bowie, like the knife, or should his adopted surname be pronounced Boughie, like the branch? Or is any earthly appellation just an alias for a man – if he is one, since he always enjoyed flaunting his androgyny – who once announced: "I am a cyborg"?
On a grey arch through which you pass into the V&A's multimedia circus, Bowie himself makes a grand statement that introduces the proceedings. "All art is unstable," he says. "There is no authoritative voice. There are only multiple readings." By talking this kind of talk,...
- 3/24/2013
- by Peter Conrad
- The Guardian - Film News
She has dressed everyone from Elizabeth I to Shakespeare, from lovelorn housewives to gangster dandies. As her work goes on show, Sandy Powell explains the tricks of the trade
The first film I did with Martin Scorsese was 2002's Gangs of New York. Marty's a director who really cares about the look of a film. He likes to talk about clothes and look at them close-up. Every time an actor comes on set wearing a new costume, the first thing Marty does is touch the cloth. I like that.
In my career, I've gravitated towards directors who care about the visuals: Derek Jarman, Mike Figgis, Neil Jordan, Todd Haynes. Marty's just like them, really: an arthouse film-maker, but with much bigger budgets. For the V&A's new Hollywood Costume exhibition, I was asked to choose one outfit from the five films I've done with Marty – something that would sum up our relationship.
The first film I did with Martin Scorsese was 2002's Gangs of New York. Marty's a director who really cares about the look of a film. He likes to talk about clothes and look at them close-up. Every time an actor comes on set wearing a new costume, the first thing Marty does is touch the cloth. I like that.
In my career, I've gravitated towards directors who care about the visuals: Derek Jarman, Mike Figgis, Neil Jordan, Todd Haynes. Marty's just like them, really: an arthouse film-maker, but with much bigger budgets. For the V&A's new Hollywood Costume exhibition, I was asked to choose one outfit from the five films I've done with Marty – something that would sum up our relationship.
- 10/18/2012
- by Naomi Gryn
- The Guardian - Film News
He's played a stranded alien, a vampire cellist and a pretty PoW – but David Bowie rarely gets his due as an actor. Ryan Gilbey talks to the directors who know him best about an original, 'incandescent' talent
He hasn't performed in public for six years, or released an album in almost a decade, but there is a lot of David Bowie about. His music featured prominently in both the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2012 Olympic Games: Danny Boyle included a shot of him playing a discombobulated alien in Nicolas Roeg's The Man Who Fell to Earth; and the closing catwalk show played out to the sound of Bowie's Fashion (a big disappointment to those hoping for a rumoured live performance of Heroes). Even in his absence, Bowie eclipsed the stars who did turn up.
Next year, the Victoria and Albert museum will host an extensive exhibition of Bowie's costumes,...
He hasn't performed in public for six years, or released an album in almost a decade, but there is a lot of David Bowie about. His music featured prominently in both the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2012 Olympic Games: Danny Boyle included a shot of him playing a discombobulated alien in Nicolas Roeg's The Man Who Fell to Earth; and the closing catwalk show played out to the sound of Bowie's Fashion (a big disappointment to those hoping for a rumoured live performance of Heroes). Even in his absence, Bowie eclipsed the stars who did turn up.
Next year, the Victoria and Albert museum will host an extensive exhibition of Bowie's costumes,...
- 8/28/2012
- by Ryan Gilbey
- The Guardian - Film News
David Bowie's film work, from a stranded alien for Nic Roeg to a reclusive inventor for Chris Nolan, has its own fascination. Ryan Gilbey looks at how he was always an actor before he started acting
He hasn't performed in public for six years, or released an album in almost a decade, but there is a lot of David Bowie about. His music featured prominently in both the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2012 Olympic Games: Danny Boyle included a shot of him playing a discombobulated alien in Nicolas Roeg's The Man Who Fell to Earth; and the closing catwalk show played out to the sound of Bowie's Fashion (a big disappointment to those hoping for a rumoured live performance of Heroes). Even in his absence, Bowie eclipsed the stars who turned up.
Next year, the Victoria and Albert museum will host an extensive exhibition of Bowie's costumes,...
He hasn't performed in public for six years, or released an album in almost a decade, but there is a lot of David Bowie about. His music featured prominently in both the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2012 Olympic Games: Danny Boyle included a shot of him playing a discombobulated alien in Nicolas Roeg's The Man Who Fell to Earth; and the closing catwalk show played out to the sound of Bowie's Fashion (a big disappointment to those hoping for a rumoured live performance of Heroes). Even in his absence, Bowie eclipsed the stars who turned up.
Next year, the Victoria and Albert museum will host an extensive exhibition of Bowie's costumes,...
- 8/27/2012
- by Ryan Gilbey
- The Guardian - Film News
The Wicker Tree has 'jokey bits, sex and a very horrific ending', says returning director Robin Hardy, who admits to schadenfreude at Hollywood remake's failure
Though it was the victim of a takeover at its film company when it was first released in 1973, and earned its director Robin Hardy just £5,000, The Wicker Man has become a cult classic.
The story of a Scottish policeman investigating the disappearance of a girl among a pagan community in the Highlands, it has inspired an academic conference, a musical, several parodies, "singalong" screenings across the country, songs by Pulp and Iron Maiden and a disastrous 2006 remake directed by Neil Labute and starring Nicolas Cage.
In 2010 the Guardian listed it as the fourth greatest horror film of all time. Now, 39 years on, Hardy has released The Wicker Tree, which revisits the territory he explored to such disturbing effect. Having played at some festivals in the Us last year,...
Though it was the victim of a takeover at its film company when it was first released in 1973, and earned its director Robin Hardy just £5,000, The Wicker Man has become a cult classic.
The story of a Scottish policeman investigating the disappearance of a girl among a pagan community in the Highlands, it has inspired an academic conference, a musical, several parodies, "singalong" screenings across the country, songs by Pulp and Iron Maiden and a disastrous 2006 remake directed by Neil Labute and starring Nicolas Cage.
In 2010 the Guardian listed it as the fourth greatest horror film of all time. Now, 39 years on, Hardy has released The Wicker Tree, which revisits the territory he explored to such disturbing effect. Having played at some festivals in the Us last year,...
- 4/2/2012
- by Alex Needham
- The Guardian - Film News
Vibrant dancer, singer and actor – a leading light of the Lindsay Kemp Company and striking presence in films by Derek Jarman
Jack Birkett, who has died aged 75, was a performer with the Lindsay Kemp Company, whose stylised theatrical language permitted him to blend ferocity with camp comedy, tragedy with menace, and lyricism with grotesqueness. The company's emotionally intense fusion of dance, theatre, mime and spectacle took Jack around the world on a wave of popularity from the 1960s to the 1980s.
In 1966 Jack began to lose his sight. Through painstaking determination, he mentally charted many stages and backstages and despite the cuts and bruises from mishaps, he refused to ever be tentative in his roles. After he had become entirely blind, he grew more extreme in his performances and his persona. His change of name to The Incredible Orlando mirrored this transformation.
Jack was born into a working-class family in Leeds.
Jack Birkett, who has died aged 75, was a performer with the Lindsay Kemp Company, whose stylised theatrical language permitted him to blend ferocity with camp comedy, tragedy with menace, and lyricism with grotesqueness. The company's emotionally intense fusion of dance, theatre, mime and spectacle took Jack around the world on a wave of popularity from the 1960s to the 1980s.
In 1966 Jack began to lose his sight. Through painstaking determination, he mentally charted many stages and backstages and despite the cuts and bruises from mishaps, he refused to ever be tentative in his roles. After he had become entirely blind, he grew more extreme in his performances and his persona. His change of name to The Incredible Orlando mirrored this transformation.
Jack was born into a working-class family in Leeds.
- 5/28/2010
- The Guardian - Film News
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