when the subject of the sentimental hygiene of nostalgia comes up, i, look you see, am always fondly remembered of an Ian Brown out of The Stone Roses quote. well, perhaps not quote as such, but the answer he gave to a question. he was once asked if the band "felt like they were influenced by the past", to which Mr Brown gave the considered response "well, we are not going to be influenced by the future, are we?".
some parts of us cling to our past, unless it is just me. maybe it is, but the lucrative nostalgia market which exists in so many different fields suggests not. which explains some of the ways in which i came to take ownership (custodianship?) of an ex-rental VHS copy of the film Body Double.
this is, but of course, a film i have spoken of before here on this blog. and in other places, but nowhere else that i can recall did i add a (should i be able to say so) splendid video celebrating the music of the film what i made. if that is of interest to you, then here's the link for it.
just, or exactly, why have i gone ahead and obtained this rather infamous film on VHS? or got it on tape once more, since but of course i did have it many a year ago. yes, this was absolutely one of the first films i "upgraded" to DVD once that technology came along, and then to Blu Ray, with that coming in the form of a birthday gift from my (considerably) better half. much (or most) of this post will probably be a meandering look at why, or well why not, but in short i am fast coming to the conclusion that some films are just meant to be watched on video.
in order to best complement, or celebrate, my obtaining of Body Double in its ex-rental VHS form, i felt compelled to make an addition to my wardrobe. after some searching, i found this one.
yes, indeed, that is Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman out of American Psycho. whilst not really explored in the film as such, in the (dislocating, to say the least) novel, the protagonist was somewhat obsessed with the film Body Double, apparently choosing to rent it repeatedly rather than just purchase it, or make an illicit copy.
my recollections of reading American Psycho for the first time were that i was more troubled by Bateman's passion for Body Double more than any of the graphic, obscene, disturbing or grotesquely pornographic other elements. i did wonder, and partly worry, about what it said of me that i loved this film just as much as this deeply upsetting protagonist. well, that is how i would like to paint the picture, i suppose. really, in truth, i felt an inexplicable sense of justification and vindication in celebrating the movie, for here was someone else that also did. that perhaps does not say much good about me, except honesty.
for what reason, or how, did i come to encounter this film in the first instance, particularly when i was of an age at which the bbfc believed i should not watch such? me and a good friend rented it, one night when we had the house to ourselves for reasons long forgotten. there were a number of reasons why two relatively close to teenage lads would wish to see it, but this was 1984 or 1985, and the main wish to watch was right there promoted on the box artwork.
quite. whether it was 1984 or 1985 (i am all but certain 84, making this the 35th year of celebration of this film), having Frankie Goes To Hollywood in a film was an instantly sold selling point, to me and many others. actually this remains a massive selling point to me, but perhaps not so many others these days. which is a shame, but so it goes.
by the time the sell thru video market came along in the late 80s and early 90s, and indeed by the stage at which digital discs came to be the way to distribute films, Frankie were, alas, not that much of a selling point. it is so, then, that this original edition ex-rental is the only way to take ownership of the original artwork in which the importance of Frankie Goes To Hollywood being in it is rightly announced and promoted.
another reason for being able to encounter this film when i did was an unusually bold move by the movie industry. by 1984 (or 85) (i am certain 84 because of the lack of an official bbfc certificate on the tape), that home video was here to stay had been accepted. rather than moan about the "loss" of box office, one studio clocked that some people might just wish to prefer to watch a movie at home rather than the cinema. it was so, then, that Body Double was the first "major" film in the UK to be released on home rental video at the same time as it was given a theatrical run. i know this because i can remember Barry Norman discussing it on Film 84 (or 85 if i am terribly mistaken).
just why, in 2019 (or whenever you are reading this), is there a market for VHS tapes, in particular ex-rental ones? lots of reasons, but three in particular. broadly, the market is for "nostalgia", for film collectors wanting movies never released "digitally" and for those who never, ever left the market.
it's worth keeping in mind that for all three the number one prize is to find an ex-rental copy of a film. why is that? better quality. sell thru tapes were made cheap, using lower quality tape, and were designed only to hold up for a dozen or so plays. rental tapes were intended to be played hundreds of times, and so were produced on higher quality video. also, whilst this digital age free for all makes it feel like absolutely everything ever made is available instantly, not so. it is estimated that somewhere north or south of 50% of all titles released on video cassette have not made it to any digital format, be it disc or download. why not? either no market or just a mess of ownership and distribution rights.
as for the other group in the market, well, why not. some just love the aesthetics of video. this is as much the handling of a tape as watching the film itself. sure, "digital" is all nice and crisp (hello, Faye) and clean, but not all films benefit from this. many films were always intended to be watched in a raw, not pristine version. usually this would be horror stuff, but then i suppose Body Double would fall into that category for some. many.
yeah, that is a non-Commodore 64 mode image of my rather smart new t-shirt, for you, the people. i figured that someone out there somewhere would want this to use as an "avatar" or profile picture for something somewhere, presumably a social network thing, so there you go. far be it from me to tell people what to do, but i would suspect this is not a wise one to use on them "dating" things. although doing so might attract some interesting people.
do i really need to add a review, or overview, of Body Double here? probably not, no. it should really go without saying that i, rightly or wrongly (that is for someone else not me to decide) absolutely love, cherish and treasure the film. and yet no, of course this is not a film which would be to the tastes of all. far from it.
would it be fair to say that i consider either my VHS or Body Double collection are now complete? not really, not really, not really, no. in respect of the film itself, there's at least two items i would still wish to get. they are a physical copy of the soundtrack, and some uber deluxe special edition of the film which comes in a fancy book or box.
as for VHS tapes, i suspect i shall only stop being interested in them when i grow tired of finding the obscure and the obscene in life. that does not strike me as something likely to draw to a close any time soon, but you never know.
right, well, that is probably just about it on this subject, for now. i have every confidence that the subject of Body Double, and VHS for that matter, shall return to these pages once more at some stage.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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