(No real spoilers, but tagged just in case.)New Orleans is a very attractive city, and it's shown to good effect by lensman Charles Bush. The opening scene, after the titles, of the levee at the Huey P. Long Bridge has beautiful colour saturation and clarity that belies the film's 16mm origin. Phil Beard deserves credit for his lighting, reminiscent of Dario Argento's, especially of The Crescent City's Piazza d'Italia. Actor Rosie Rosato brings an incredible intensity to his character Mike Landrum.
The story is remarkable for its literacy. The title is taken from the 'cut up' method of writing pioneered by Brion Gysin (with a nod to Tristan Tzara). Gysin literally cut up newspaper articles and rearranged the pieces at random. 'The Patchwork Killer' in the film does the same thing with his victims. Gysin also created a 'dream machine' a device that stimulates alpha waves in the brain which is featured in the film. Characters include 'Max Peters' (John Woods) and Azure Canine (Mike Lyddon). Max Peters's name is a play on op-artist Peter Max, and establishes him in the retro-art world where the killings take place. 'Blue Dog' (on which the name 'Azure Canine' is a play) is a well-known inhabitant of paintings by New Orleans artist George Rodrigue. I love finding these little nuggets in films! Cut Up necessarily had a very low budget, but it shows what competent filmmakers can do with very little money and a lot of hard work. The story is good, the nods to experimental artists give it a depth that is seldom found in works of this sort, and the cinematography is beautiful.
The story is remarkable for its literacy. The title is taken from the 'cut up' method of writing pioneered by Brion Gysin (with a nod to Tristan Tzara). Gysin literally cut up newspaper articles and rearranged the pieces at random. 'The Patchwork Killer' in the film does the same thing with his victims. Gysin also created a 'dream machine' a device that stimulates alpha waves in the brain which is featured in the film. Characters include 'Max Peters' (John Woods) and Azure Canine (Mike Lyddon). Max Peters's name is a play on op-artist Peter Max, and establishes him in the retro-art world where the killings take place. 'Blue Dog' (on which the name 'Azure Canine' is a play) is a well-known inhabitant of paintings by New Orleans artist George Rodrigue. I love finding these little nuggets in films! Cut Up necessarily had a very low budget, but it shows what competent filmmakers can do with very little money and a lot of hard work. The story is good, the nods to experimental artists give it a depth that is seldom found in works of this sort, and the cinematography is beautiful.
