... because Pierre Clémenti is (1) one of my greatest heroes, biggest idols, and role models, (2) what beauty looks like, (3) a major figure in my new novel 'The Marbled Swarm', (4) the natural father of the narrator of that novel, (5) the spitting image of that narrator, (6) easily among the most daring, inspiring filmmakers and actors of my lifetime, (7) my favorite actor, (8) one of the three or four dead people I most wish I could have met, (9) his 'Quelques Messages Personnels' is the French book I most wish would be translated into English, (10) ...
The Passion of Pierre Clémenti: European cinema's christ-devil child
Pierre Clementi Fan Site 1 (French)
Pierre Clementi Fan Site 2 (French)
Pierre Clementi entries @ CinebeatPierre Clementi Facebook Page
Pierre Clementi's imdb pages
Cinememorial: Pierre Clementi
The CV of PC's son Balthazar Clementi
'There’s a feeling inside me of being unwilling to taint myself by participating in the making of films that do not deserve to be made. I discovered that it was possible to make images with simplicity, without taking the approach of a particular school. Underground cinema dared. With it, one would equalize its art with its means. I’ve always worked alone and I only ruined myself. If I were to work in the industry, even a very honest one, I would have to do things that I don’t like. And I would have something dead inside me.' — Pierre Clémenti, 1986
'The reconciliation of the visual with the colorful psychedelic impulses of these luscious times… To find again the chant of origins, images that inscribe themselves in us like a double and that wave to us. To grope for… In the dark room of multinational ideas, I quiver and I mumble. Cinema of the inside and the outside, of the behind and the inside. In front of the magical mirror of multiple visions, I find the thread of my memory and open a little the family album of births and deaths. In front of the flood of multicolor impressions, cartoons, reanimated by passion and love of the man with the cardboard suitcase, I was waving my huge scissors and carving and re-carving like a sculptor inspired standing in front of his first work.' — Pierre Clémenti, 1974.
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10 pictures
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Intro
'The cinema of Pierre Clémenti resists easy comprehension in much the same way its maker resisted society's pigeonholes. I've been thinking about his films for days now with little progress to show for it in the way of more articulate opinions on them. All I can say with certainty is that I'm better off for having seen them. At some point, it dawned on me that the best way to appreciate Clémenti's films are as works deliberately frustrating and structurally, even thematically, diffuse, their carnivalesque levels of madness host to something of an inverted world where easy comprehension is not only undesirable, but a lie. His films, to their varying levels of success, are all kaleidoscope visions of intensely personal inquiries, the kind of fearless experimentation rarely seen in cinema either mainstream or not, an infrequency thanks as much to audiences resistant to such material as the general lack of artists daring enough to make it.
'Perhaps best known for his role in Luis Buñuel's Belle de Jour, Clémenti the actor was also an ardent creator who sought to explore cinema's intrinsic connection with the subconscious, a relationship often made literal in his distinctly, deliberately avant-garde works. Hindsight sees these films as distinct creations of their time, ready to be dismissed by those who see only the counterculture elements long since rendered cliché. Treading arguably pretentious and fatuous grounds, Clémenti's smorgasbord utilization of sight and sound demands one engage it on its own ever-shifting terms, which routinely break the fourth wall and were surely made with the intention of being experienced under the influence. Viewed sober, his films remain trips whose nature transcends traditional designations of good or bad; as if finally escaping a hazy, disorienting fog, the only word I could use to describe them is essential.' -- Rob Humanick, Slant Magazine
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10 films
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Pierre Clementi Visa de Censure n°X (1967 - 1975)'Under the influence of Franco-Canadian experimentalist Etienne O'Leary, Clémenti began shooting his own 16mm experimental shorts in the mid-1960s. His Visa de censure, no. X is a face-melting rush of superimpositions, mandalas, pagan convocations, and freakout flashes of wriggling vomited spiders. Sections of Visa were shown as early as 1967—aptly titled Psychedelic—but the final version is dated 1975, when it was synched with a 40-odd-minute multi-movement jam by French psych-prog rockers Clearlight Symphony.' -- Village Voice
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Carlos Vilardebó As Ilhas Encantadas ('Enchanted Isles') (1965)'Pierre, a French sailor circa 1850, disembarks in a desert Atlantic island, and discovers a woman who had survived for many years her father and brother, dead while searching for mysterious valuables. The young couple discover paradise, and its end.' -- imdb
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Pier Paolo Pasolini Porcile ('Pigpen') (1969)'Two dramatic stories. In an undeterminated past, a young cannibal (who killed his own father) is condemned to be torn to pieces by some wild beasts. In the second story, Julius, the young son of a post-war German industrialist, is on the way to lie down with his farm's pigs, because he doesn't like human relationships.' -- imdb
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Bernardo Bertolucci Il conformista ('The Conformist') (1970)'This story opens in 1938 in Rome, where Marcello has just taken a job working for Mussollini and is courting a beautiful young woman who will make him even more of a conformist. Marcello is going to Paris on his honeymoon and his bosses have an assignment for him there. Look up an old professor who fled Italy when the fascists came into power. At the border of Italy and France, where Marcello and his bride have to change trains, his bosses give him a gun with a silencer. In a flashback to 1917, we learn why sex and violence are linked in Marcello's mind.' -- imdb
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M'arco Les Idoles (1968)'This is to my knowledge the very first film of indie actress Bulle Ogier, who was part, along with Pierre Clémenti and Jean-Pierre Kalfon, of the original cast for the play "Les idoles", which inspired this film. A film that is a tasteful blend between a stage happening and a musical. Marc'o, then a stage veteran who was directing his first feature, was a visionary, as he had grasped most of what the cult of youth idols such as pop-stars was all about: a very fertile ground for business and cynicism. Gigi la folle, the wrongly innocent sweet blonde played by Bulle Ogier, was inspired by pop singer France Gall, whereas Charlie le surineur, played by a wild Pierre Clémenti, is more or less Johnny Hallyday, a supposed natural-born rebel, in fact a totally artificial marketing produce. The portrait Marc'o gives of the french youth on the eve of May 1968 is of a world seething in unrest, reading supposed rebellion orders on the lips of their teen idols. In that way, Les idoles is a political point of view about the power of the media and music over the consciences. All this in bright and wonderful colors, psychedelic interiors, a visual world close to the world of the series "The Prisoner".' -- imdb
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Luis Bunuel Belle du Jour (1967)'Severine Serizy, happily married to a handsome young surgeon, goes to work in a house of ill repute, actually an intimate apartment. The money involved is less the motivation than the pretext for her action. Pierre, her husband, provides for her material needs handsomely, but his respectfully temporizing caresses fail to satisfy her psychic need for brutal degradation, a need first awakened by a child molester when she was eight. To preserve a facade of marital respectability, Severine works at her obsessive profession only afternoons from two to five, the mystery of her matinée schedule causing her to be christened Belle de jour.' -- imdb
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Pierre Clementi La révolution n'est qu'un début. Continuons. ('The Revolution is Only A Beginning. Let's Continue Fighting') (1968)'Half family photo album, half ciné-tract, the film was shot in Paris during the events of May ‘68 and in Rome where the actor was featuring in the film Partner by Bertolucci. Rediscovered in a basement in 1999, this silent film appears to be one of Clémenti’s most purely beautiful and concentrated works, at times recalling Brakhage and Eisenstein.' -- mubi
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Philippe Garrel La cicatrice intérieure ('The Inner Scar') (1972)'"Inner Scar" features Pierre Clementi (nude) and the Andy Warhol superstar Nico (dressed in a loose robe) and a few others, including Phillippe Garrel. Clementi speaks French; Nico sometimes complains in English and sometimes declaims in German verse, and sometimes sings for musical background on the soundtrack. There are no subtitles. The people, never more than two at a time, move through a variety of landscapes from glacial to nearly tropical—but that are always, in some manner, desert. The people may walk or run or ride a horse, or drive a flock of sheep or even sail a little boat—but almost always they are in movement. At some level I suspect there is a story in which Clementi, carrying bow and arrows and wielding a sword, comes as king or savior or avenging angel to Nico in the wilderness, and then disappears without satisfying her complaint. But the story is very obscure.' -- NYT
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Dusan Makavejev Sweet Movie (1974)'First reaction to this challenging and astonishing film might be to pronounce it depraved or that the director is but then there is no suggestion that one will come away from this unique film a less moral person and so the accusation fails. Certainly I would like to think that for everybody there will be at least some part of this they find hard to take, indeed I don't think I would like to sit too closely to anyone who lapped up every frame. Excess of all kind on display here plus a really difficult striptease among young children. And yet, I think despite some of the more flip and seeming silliness, Makavejev is screaming out for the individual to rediscover his private and public freedom. The Soviet Union comes in for most of the kicking, but then why wouldn't it in 1974 when they were still presiding over the director's birthplace and still denying the massacre of Poles so distressingly shown in original b/w footage. Personally, having previously only encountered Otto Muehl through the films of Kurt Kren, I found his antics here the hardest to take. Here the overt element of homoerotic SM as overweight men spat and sicked up over each other seemed to go further than the catharsis of those other movies. But hey someone might find those bit's the best. Brave, bold and very well shot with a marvellous soundtrack.' -- imdb
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Luis Bunuel La voie lactée (The Milky Way) (1969)'Two vagabonds Jean (Laurent Terzieff) and Pierre (Paul Frankeur) are hitching a ride from Paris to Spain as a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostels to pray over the remains of Saint James. As the two travel by whatever methods they can get and depending on the locals for food, they seem to shift their existence in time, flashing back to biblical times, medieval times, and renaissance times to scenes confronting and examining theological texts and arguments surrounding heresy. Along the way Jean and Pierre meet up with Jesus (Bernard Verley) showing off his abilities, and the Marquis de Sade (Michel Piccoli) begins a new relationship with a young girl in chains, and also Satan (Pierre Clementi) who appears during a car crash to establish some interesting points about religion. In the end our two beggars realize some interesting new ideas about the world they inhabit.' -- imdb
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p.s. Hey. The deadline for sending in Halloween SPD entries is your bedtime tonight, so please pony up, you stragglers. Thank you. If you're in or near NYC, there's an event tonight at the New Museum that's part of a series related to the upcoming production of 'Them', the performance art/ dance piece by Ishmael Houston-Jones, Chris Cochrane, and myself. In this case, it features the great music artist and d.l. Chris Cochrane. Here's the official description: 'Sparked by an invitation to form the experimental rock band No Safety, Chris Cochrane began to write songs and music for dance in the mid-1980s. Cochrane’s music, both improvised and composed, has been described as “musical art brut, with its seams showing and its rough spots out in the open” (New York Times). For SOUND CHECK ’86 Cochrane performs songs from the ’80s with his new trio featuring Hana Fox and Mike Duclos. They will be joined by special guests Jim Pugliese, Eszter Balint, Zeena Parkins, Eddie Gormley, and Richard Dworkin.' The event starts at 7 pm, and the New Museum is located at 235 Bowery, and the phone number for more info and tickets is 212-219-1222 x555. Try to be there if you can. ** Wolf, Okay, cool re: Esther, Barcelona, etc. Not to mention about you guys maybe coming to Paris! Let's talk soon. I'm in the middle of some bad stuff right now, and I'll be more able to think clearly about this by next week, I hope. Thanks a million, pal. ** Kiddiepunk, Punkster! Sorry I didn't phone yesterday. Gisele ended up needing to meet suddenly, and that took a while, and, when I got home, it was getting on bedtime. But let's hang out later today for absolutely sure, if you don't mind. ** David Ehrenstein, Hey, D. Got your email. Thanks a ton. Yeah, the discovery of that painting in the disused Paris apartment has been reasonably big news over here. Very interesting story, no? Thanks a lot for the linkage. ** Pilgarlic, Ha ha, nice. If you start talking about Jimmy Buffet then Eddie Money starts sounding like Scott Walker. Count one's blessings, I guess. Savannah in flower sounds like the ticket. Thanks, dude. Assuming you're off to the Pirate thing today, here's hoping it's hugely diggable. ** Sypha, Uh, so, how did it go yesterday? Did it come to a head? You okay? ** Plexus, Hey, sweetness. I've, uh, been better, let's say, but I'm okay enough, and I'll be fine. Well, I certainly don't want to join some army of kid glove wearers, so I'll slip on my Freddie Krueger hands instead. They fit me much better anyway, ha ha. Ugh, on the job hunting. Any luck? Well, luck is kind of the wrong word. Yeah, that stuff in 'The Worst' happened. And that's the G-rated version. I sort of believe in fate and chaos at the same time. Is that possible? I guess so, since I do. To me, they're compatible for some reason. I don't know how I do what I do. Do you know you do what you do? Writing's a mysterious Seme, ha ha. Wow, that being eaten dead and then eaten alive thing felt pretty cool. How did you do that? Accept the fate/chaos of my love. ** Jose, Hey. Oh, you saw it. Yeah, I tried to sort of bring up to the blog's current speed or something. I'm glad you thought it was okay. No, I don't know Longmont Potion Castle, which is why it's awesome you're sending a post about it/them. Thank you a lot! And I'm sorely in need of guest posts right now, so that's just fantastic! ** Oscar B, Hey. As I told Kp up above, I got pulled away by Gisele, and that's why I didn't call. But as for today, prepare yourself for an in-person with me because you have no choice, ha ha. ** Stephen, Hey, man! Yeah, sorry I didn't write to you yet. I'm in the middle of this heavy personal thing right now, and if I don't get to see you today, at least we can hang out in NYC, if you're willing. Bad timing. Anyway, hopefully I'll write to you in a bit. ** FreeFox, Nice going and idea on the quiz. That was not only cool but popular too. And it's good to have the explanation 'cos, yeah, I wasn't sure what it all meant. Very cool stuff. And nicely complicated too. I might borrow a bit for my novel. One of my characters is a serious glutton for a weird made-up strain of yaoi. ** Derek McCormack, Derek! You didn't mind me coopting your masterpiece, phew. And you know what? I did know yesterday was your publication event, and that's why I picked that date. And you know what? I then spaced out and didn't call attention to the event, which was the whole reason I picked that date. Anyway, ... Everyone, your attention please. Yesterday, as you know, the blog was graced with a Halloween text by the masterful author Derek McCormack, and, not coincidentally, Derek's new, ltd. ed., incredibly beautiful book 'Count Choc-a-Log' was released yesterday as well. It's published by the exquisite press pas de chance, and you can find out more about the book and, I think, order it by going right here. Plus, you can investigate pas de chance there too, and you'll be very glad you did. How did it go last night, eh? Lots and lots of love to you too, Derek. ** Sweettomb, Trinie! We're having a little impromptu LHotB reunion going on in this squib of the comments/ p.s. Awesome that you and Matt will be in NYC. If current plans work out, I'll be in NYC for two and a half weeks starting next Wednesday, so, hell yeah, we can meet up if you're game. I'd really love that. ** Bill, Hey. So, how did it go last night? Tell me. Yes, I got your SPD entry. Thank you so much. Hope this morning is a post-success goodie. ** Alan, Hey. Oh, I'm sorry to hear that about the agent. There are tons of them where she came from. So, her feedback made sense to you in a good way? So, all was not lost? Are you reworking the structure now? ** The Evil Ghost of JW Veldhoen, November 1st, okay. That's when I'll get back here, if current plans hold. Lucky day, I hope. Way into you doing that book. Way, way into it. What's with all these people you know who think and say weird bullshit about me. I've lost my shit maybe twice in my whole life, and I guarantee you that they weren't there. Weirdos. ** Steevee, Real glad that the ankle is starting to give up its evil ghost. Hope that trend is in continuance. ** Jax, Hey, pal. Well, that Sarah Kane production sounds curious at least. It sounds like the text had a lot to compete with. I used to have very little interest in theater apart from experimental or avant-garde stuff. Robert Wilson's earlier work was a total game changer for me, for instance. I did and do love performance art with a passion though. But I've come around a bit just from being exposed to so much theater here what with the Gisele connection, and also from working in that medium and behind the scenes too, I'm sure. I still think most theater isn't my thing, but the live thing and the framed, organized live thing is more accessible and interesting to me now. But I know what you mean about the effect of theater not being as deep or profound in the great majority cases, although I don't know why that's so. And, you know, thank you for that anecdote about 'The Sluts', Jack. I mean, you know. ** Chilly Jay Chill, Thanks, Jeff. Good, good, I'd love to do a blog fest/ announcement of the book. Great! Yeah, just ask or send me whatever whenever you're ready. Very, very happy to do that. Recent listening? Well, yeah, the new Deerhunter. I still think it's probably my favorite of theirs so far. The new solo album by Mark McGuire of Emeralds is really beautiful, I think. Still listening to Perfume Genius a fair amount. Just got the new No Age, which sounds real good on one listen. Been on a bit of a Glenn Branca kick. And that new Contortions/James White comp. You? ** Changeling, Hey. Okay, yeah, well, I really hope the repercussions start cresting right away. I hope the ultimate effect is just an interesting shift, at worst. Anyway, yeah, tell me what's going if the time becomes and right and if you feel like it. Otherwise, a bunch bone rattling (in the good way) hugs from me. ** Rigby, Hey, Rigs. You would be the ultimate evil ice cream truck guy. In the good way. Can I sit in the back? Will I need a scarf? ** Misanthrope, I'm trying to get the NYC mess of a trip in place today, and I hope to, but it's not up to me. Word when it is. ** Amccartney, Hi, Alistair! It's so very nice to see you! Mm, I'm kind of fucked up, to be honest, but it's a heaviness that will evolve into something less encompassing. Novel's still moving along though. So, I have that. How's yours? What's going on inside it? Big love to you and to Tim too. ** Inthemostpeculiarway, Hey. I might have to wait until Monday to get my haircut, but I'm nagging gently in hopes of sooner. So, your ear stuff still is a factor. I hate going to the doctor for the same reasons you do, but, yeah, don't live with your ear worries for too long. My vote is to bite the bullet. Sebastian is nice porn star, yes. I don't think his real is Sebastian though, but it suits him. Brazil Bus, ... no, I don't think so, although I'm going through a Brazilian porn phase, so, if BB is porn, I'll probably find it. Is it like ... what's it called, Bait Bus? Oh, but the wax on those things is what makes the chewing cool. You just can't swallow. Maybe they're using cheaper wax now. That would fuck it up. All those John Hughes movies blend together in my head, so I can't remember 'The Breakfast Club' particularly. Glad you wrote, and I bet what you wrote is better than you think. My day: There's some bad stuff I don't want to talk about right now, so I'll leave certain things out. Let's see ... The Larry Clark retrospective opening was last night, and I was going to go, but it turned out to be invitation only, and I wasn't invited, so I didn't go. Novel report: I finished the first section, and I'm working on the second one now. Having one part completely done except for one last read through and maybe fiddle has been psychologically good. As usual, most of the day was filled up with my working on the novel. I met with Gisele to finalize the 'J/TTT' book, and we had to cut eight pages from the photo sequence/ novella, and that sucks, but I think it'll work okay. I stressed out a fair amount about the fact that the powers that be still haven't found me decent lodging in NYC, and I told them if they can't do that, I'll have to come for much shorter time and just work on 'Them' but not appear in it, and that this question needs to be decided now. I'm hoping I get an answer today, because the uncertainty at this late point is starting to really piss me off. Most of the rest of the day was taken up the heavy stuff I mentioned. So, I guess that's the totality. Today, we'll see. How was your today? ** Creative Massacre, Hey. Sure, of course you can use my reply. If my saying more or whatever would be of use at all, just ask me anything, I'd be honored to help in any way. ** Oliver, Hey, Oliver! Thanks a lot, man. You good, I hope? ** Alec Niedenthal, Hey, Alec. The blog got redesigned 'cos it was either that or limbo. Glad you think it's okay. No, I hadn't heard that GBV recording, but it'll be my afternoon's glory. Thank you a lot, man! Due to bunch of shit and the timing of the NYC stay, I'm not going to see the GBV reunion shows unless they extend the tour, and it's totally killing me. I'm working on my novel. That's mostly all I've doing for months now. It's nearing the end finally. Maybe a couple of more months at most, I hope. It's really great to hear you be excited about a new piece! A sound for sore ears, my friend. Super great to see you, Alec. Thanks a whole lot! ** Syreearmwellion, Hey! Oh, that sounds really good. Those are some major advancements there, and you're right that I love hearing about how it's going. Yeah, that sounds really, really good. A couple of months. Me too, I hope. Consider my brain waves egging you on at the same time that they're egging me. Thanks a lot! ** Empty Frame, Hey, man. Yeah, I saw your SPD in my mailbox this morning. Thanks a million and a half! Is 'White Ribbon' finally out on DVD now? I still haven't seen it. I'm way into Perfume Genius too, cool. Happy Friday. ** L@rstonovich, Dude, sigh, thank you for keeping me in your GbV blasted thoughts. I appreciate it. Damn, that sounded good. Sigh. Oh, well. If I had to hear it from somebody, I'm glad it was you, ha ha. ** Bollo, Hey. Your friend's work looks really nice. I glanced, and I'll savor later. Everyone, check out the work of this artist Kieran Moore who's a friend and artistic comrade of our buddy Bollo. Great about your free weekend. Knock some of that great shit loose, okay? No, I don't think there's any publication or anything around the New Museum residency. Just whatever stuff ends up online, I guess. ** Tomáš, Hey, T! Miss you, pal. I'm, mm, okay, sort of. Long story. No, I didn't go to the Larry Clark opening. I want to see the show badly, of course. It would be great to see it with you. I'm off to NYC in a few days, so, if not before then, let's see it when I get back, if you want to wait that long. I'm probably back on the 31st. Anyway, take care, man. ** Destroyed beyond emptiness, Hi, Darren! I just caught you before I was about to launch this. I wouldn't have taken you for a Lady Gaga fanboy, so that's an interesting wrinkle. I'll go check my mail for your SPD in a minute. Hopefully it's safely there, and thank you, my dear friend. ** Allright. I'm a huge fan of Pierre Clementi, and, since he's all over my novel, he's in my brain a lot, and so the post was born. Hope you like it. Don't forget to send in your SPD Halloween costumes by bedtime tonight, Thanks! See you tomorrow.
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