Boney M. - Rasputin (1978)

It was so amusing when my cousin told me that her kids loved this song and liked to sing along with it. "You do know that Rasputin was a drunk rapist bastard, right?" Of course, she had no idea who Rasputin was, but was probably happy that her children didn't understand the English lyrics just yet. Of course, I was brought up believing that Men At Work sang "Do you come from a land down under, where women blow and make wonder", so I guess that my cousin doesn't have to worry too much about destroying her children's minds.

Anyhow. In 1978 the adorable sadomasochistic disco band Boney M. had a hit with this song about Rasputin, and I must say that they have managed quite well in summarizing this special human being in one little song. And what a catchy melody it is!

Although the song was popular in the Soviet Union and made Rasputin famous again, the song was deleted from their records sold there, and they weren't allowed to perform the song on their Moscow tour in 1978.

The real history behind:

Grigori Rasputin (1869-1916), aka "The Mad Monk", was at first a Russian farmer like everyone else: he drank vodka, beat his wife and plowed the fields. After a few religious revelations however he started a pilgrim voyage, and soon he was known as a holy man. He was introduced to the Tsarina of Russia, Alexandra Feodorovna (granddaughter of Queen Victoria) and became her personal adviser and healer. To return the favor of being allowed to roam the palace, he often got drunk in random pubs and bragged about his close relationship to the Tsarina and disgracing her mousy husband, Tsar Nicholas II.

There lived a certain man in Russia long ago

He was big and strong, in his eyes a flaming glow

Most people looked at him with terror and with fear

But to Moscow chicks he was such a lovely dear

He could preach the bible like a preacher

Full of ecstacy and fire

But he also was the kind of teacher

Women would desire

This bad behavior, his influence in politics via the Tsarina and the fact that the Tsarina refused to listen to any bad talk about Rasputin, insulted the Russian people and made them reluctant toward the Tsar. Of course, the situation in Russia was already turbulent with the Revolution about to break out, so a dirty monk in the palace didn't help the Tsar's bad reputation as a lousy ruler.

But when his drinking and lusting and his hunger

for power became known to more and more people,

the demands to do something about this outrageous

man became louder and louder.

Rasputin was assassinated in 1916 (a popular story on the verge of being a myth), and the Tsar, Tsarina and their four children were assassinated in 1918 by a group of hotshot Bolsheviks who wanted to abolish the Tsar in favor of Lenin. They succeeded.

You all heard the story about Anastasia, right? Disney film and all. She was one of the children of the Tsar family, and no, she did not survive - but she was however the last one struggling to stay alive after being bombarded with bullets from the murderers. The bodies of the Tsar family were later that day burnt in the forest by an abandoned mine in order to destroy evidence of the assassination. The family had however sown in valuable jewels into their clothes, fearing to be robbed by their capturers, and these did not burn up. Farmers living nearby found the jewels (among skeleton parts and fancy shoes), and realized that something terrible had happened their. In short: covering up the assassination of the Tsar family did not succeed. (Hadn't they watched enough CSI to know how to get rid of evidence? Jeez.)

Tsar Nicholas II and his family, all assassinated July 17, 1918.

Oh yes, and the assassination of Rasputin. He was lured to attend a party and was poisoned, shot, beaten and then drowned. They also cut off his naughty bits, which were unusually huge. For the morbid readers (I don't blame you), I give you a link to a picture of them in a jar.

RA RA RASPUTIN

Lover of the Russian queen

They put some poison into his wine

RA RA RASPUTIN

Russia's greatest love machine

He drank it all and he said "I feel fine"

RA RA RASPUTIN

Lover of the Russian queen

They didn't quit, they wanted his head

RA RA RASPUTIN

Russia's greatest love machine

And so they shot him till he was dead

I like the phrasing "they shot him till he was dead", even though it wasn't entirely true. When his body was hauled in for an autopsy, water was found in his lungs pointing toward a death by drowning. His body was supposedly frozen in a position that indicated that he had tried to claw his way through the ice, so obviously the assassins hadn't exaggerated when trying to kill him with poison, gun shots, beating and drowning.

But why was the Mad Monk assassinated? I don't understand, he seemed like such a nice man. I mean, he strongly believed in cleaning oneself from sin: and to do so, one had to sin to get rid of the temptation. He supposedly engaged in wild erotic adventures and drank Vodka like it was water. There are plenty of rumors about Rasputin, for instance that he once raped a nun, but the evidence is of course quite lacking.

RA RA RASPUTIN

Russia's greatest love machine

It was a shame how he carried on...

A love machine he was, even though it probably often was his initiative. He did however succeed in relieving the pain for Tsarina Alexandra's son, Alexei, who had haemophilia. He was never the Tsarina's lover, opposed to popular rumors.

He ruled the Russian land and never mind the czar

But the kasachok he danced really wunderbar

In all affairs of state he was the man to please

But he was real great when he had a girl to squeeze

For the queen he was no wheeler dealer

Though she'd heard the things he'd done

She believed he was a holy healer

Who would heal her son

"Mmm, glorious beard... Glasnost, perestrojka and wha'evva."

Taxi Driver (1976)

Taxi Driver
Director: Martin Scorsese
USA 1976
113 min
Starring: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Albert Brooks, Harvey Keitel, Peter Boyle and Cybill Shepherd, among others.

What happens when a crazy person with a sleeping disorder and a contempt for humanity roams the hooker filled city streets night after night in a yellow cab?

100 followers - 100 movies (pt 3/4)

Part three of my 100 one-sentence-movie reviews (1960-1984).

1909-1934

1935-1959

1960-1984

1985-2009

1960

The Devil's Eye

In this Ingmar Bergman comedy the Devil has gotten a sty in his eye, and all because of a woman keeping her virtue until wedding night - but that's probably easy to fix if we send Don Juan in the form of the handsome Jarl Kulle to Earth to seduce her!

1961

Breakfast at Tiffany's

Audrey Hepburn plays the flighty, colorful New York socialite Holly Golightly who takes an interest in a young man who has moved into her apartment building, after Truman Capote's novel.

1962

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

Bette Davis is freaky as hell in this psychological thriller about two sisters living together in a house where envy and madness tear on their relationship, and of course the fact that one sister is helpless in a wheelchair on the second floor.

1963

The Haunting

The tagline "You may not believe in ghosts, but you cannot deny terror" says everything about the horrifying experience watching this film is - you never know what is actually happening, if something is happening and if it's only in the mind.

1964

Umbrellas of Cherbourg

Colorful French musical about 17 year old Geneviève, living with her widowed mother who owns an umbrella shop in Cherbourg and being crazily in love with a young man her mother won't let her marry.

1965

A Hard Day's Night

Weird British humor about the 1960's hit makers The Beatles being chased around by fans and teasing poor Ringo for his big nose.

1966

Blow-Up

A mod London photographer believes that he has accidentally photographed a murder, so he starts jumping between solving the mystery and having colorful photo shoots with chic and mostly naked models.

1967

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

A couple consisting of Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy are forced to face their preconceptions when their daughter brings home a black fiancée in this lovely film with fine actors and a brilliant script.

1968

Yours, Mine and Ours

Based on a true story this film shows us what happens when a widower with ten children marries a widow with eight, and with another baby on the way they all must live under the same roof.

1969

Midnight Cowboy

A touching film about a male Texas prostitute (Jon Voight) and his sick friend (Dustin Hoffman) struggling to stay alive on the streets of New York City.

1970

Tristana

On the surface a simple story about an innocent woman being destroyed by a hypocrite of a stepfather (and after her mother's death, lover) - under the surface pure Buñuel surrealism - and only that director would dare to amputate the beautiful Catherine Deneuve!

1971

A Clockwork Orange

As one of the most iconic films of the 1970's, A Clockwork Orange takes place in future Britain where we meet the young man Alex, who is addicted to sex and ultra-violence, but goes to prison to go through a rehabilitation that destroys his dear Beethoven for him.

1972

Pink Flamingos

The sickest film I have on this list of 100 movies - but it is so sick, gruesome, filthy and God-knows-how-to-describe-it, that I simply can't avoid adoring this John Waters camp legend.

1973

The Sting

An elegant con-movie set in the 1930's, about a man seeking revenge for his murdered partner in crime, and finds the right man to help him - con-master Henry Gondorff.

1974

Young Frankenstein

Mel Brooks' story about Dr. Frankenstein's grandson who inherits his grandfather's castle and repeats his experiments - a hilarious spoof on the horror film genre.

1975

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Oh, how I love the British - and this is British humor times a hundred in a comedy classic you must never foresee.

1976

Ugly, Dirty and Bad

In the dirty inner-city Rome four generations of a family live crowded together and do their best to be filthy - a completely wonderful Italian comedy, with an unsuspected kind of humor.

1977

Annie Hall

Woody Allen's comic masterpiece that even himself never could compete with - an original and warm film about the self-destructive Jewish comedian Alvy Singer who messes up all relationships he comes near, even with the love of his life - Annie Hall, played by a wonderful Diane Keaton.

1978

Dawn of the Dead

The second in the George A. Romero's zombie trilogy, where our heroes try to survive the zombie attacks in a shopping center - a funny satire on commercialism and a lot of gore!

1979

The Tin Drum

A disturbing German film about a boy in the 1930's who was born with full intellect, and decides at the age of three to stop growing - he then enjoys himself by beating on a tin drum and scream so loud that glass shatter.

1980

The Shining

A family takes care of a hotel at a by winter unavailable location, and after a while the man of the family chases his wife and child with an ax - because we all know that "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy".

1981

Raiders of the Lost Ark

An homage to classic adventure movies, and a hell of a great one itself, with Indiana Jones equipped with a whip and charms.

1982

Fanny and Alexander

Ingmar Bergman's last motion picture is a masterpiece about a high society Swedish family celebrating Christmas, an evil, slimy priest that steals the custody of the children and mentally destroys their mother, an awesome Jarl Kulle as Gustav Adolf, and a lot of spooky stuff - but refuse to see anything other than the 4 hour version, too many superb and important scenes are cut out of the 2 hour version.

1983

The Meaning of Life

The meaning of life according to Monty Python with their usual weird manners - and we do get an answer to what it is!

1984

Amadeus

A Milos Forman film about Mozart, told by his aging rival and forgotten composer Salieri - such an emotional and grand film with the magnificent music of Mozart himself is hard to beat.

Harold and Maude (1971)

Harold and Maude

Director: Hal Ashby

USA 1971

91 min

Starring: Ruth Gordon, Bud Cort, Vivian Pickles, Charles Tyner and Ellen Greer, among others.

Possibly the most disarming film introduction ever.

Harold is a young, rich 19 year old obsessed with death. His mother has started to get bored with his constant fake-suicides and thinks he ought to get married or join the military. Instead, Harold enjoys himself with visiting funerals, and it is at such an occasion his life changes when he meets Maude, a lively and spontaneous woman sixty years his major. Harold and Maude show to be the opposites that are drawn to each other.

Maude is an eccentric woman, who lives her life as a free soul who refuses to give in to society's ideas of an organized life (like getting a drivers license, don't steal people's cars etc etc). Harold and Maude take picnics at junk yards, visit graveyards and philosophize about life in general. They grow more and more fond of each other, until their relationship take a turn to romance.

Add to this sweet music by Cat Stevens (à la Simon and Garfunkel to The Graduate, 1967).

I must admit that I totally love Bud Cort's Harold. Anyone who has been an attention seeking, confused and depressed teenager with a death fascination can see themselves as Harold. The teenage problems are of course depicted in the most weird and extreme way possible, but that is after all just what it feels like.

There's one scene in particular that explains Harold's actions. (See below.) He sits on the floor with Maude, smoking a hookah and small talking. Suddenly Harold tells Maude about the first time he "died", and the attention he got from his mother that time. I'm fascinated by Maude's speech in this scene. "They aren't really dead, they are just pulling back from life."

Scene: A great piece of dialog between Harold and Maude.

Scene: I was surprised to hear Tchaikovsky's Piano Concert #1, it makes my heart go in pieces. It's so beautiful (and rather bizarre in the context). I hope I'm not the only one to think about Mary Astor in The Great Lie (1941)!

Harold and Maude became enormously popular among young audiences, who easily could identify with the character of Harold and liked the do-what-thou-wilt-attitude of Maude. The main focus of the film is as 1970's as it can become - don't care about what others think, do what you want. It sounds really corny when spelling it out like this, but the message is not overdramatised in the film - it rather just pushes you in the direction to draw that conclusion yourself.

The film played or a total of 1,957 showings at the Westgate Theatre in Edina, Minnesota, from mid- 1972 until June 1974. Ruth Gordon showed up for the first anniversary, and for the second one both she and Bud Cort appeared.

In short, Harold and Maude is an unusual film about life. It manages to combine different elements like charm, morbidity, love, humor and drama. I even found the film frightening in parts in its frankness.

I read a review someplace about this movie, and that person said that he almost was more amazed of what the film didn't include, than what it did. That's an opinion I am willing to share - take for instance the brief moment we see a number tattooed on Maude's wrist. It is never mentioned again, but you don't forget it. Instead of the film giving us a story about the number's origin (from prison? a concentration camp?), we have to guess ourselves why Maude became the person she is today, and what possibly could lie in her past that shaped her that way.

And that's brilliant, in my opinion. The film isn't about Maude's past, it isn't about anyone's past. It rather tells us to carpe diem - and if we want to dig in the past, that's something we have to do on our own and by our own initiative.

There's just one thing I still wonder about. In the original novel it is supposed to be very clear that Harold's "suicides" are faked by himself - but I can't really feel certain that it's supposed to be like that in the film version. How can he hang in the rope without suffocating? How can he lie that long, upside down, in the water without drowning for real?
I don't have a better explanation, I'm sad to say. But I can't get away from the feeling that he fantasizes those episodes, rather drifting away in his fantasy at how his mother would react is he "died again". (See the hookah clip above.)
I don't know, but the "faking it" theory seems too convenient for me...

British movie poster.

Enough about Harold and Maude - I bet we all want to know how Ruth Gordon looked when she was young! She was cool as heck.

By the way: Did you know that she and her husband Garson Kanin together wrote film scripts, among them Adam's Rib (1949)?

I also want to look like the Monopoly guy!

Here she looks just like a princess.

Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS (1975)

Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS

Director: Don Edmonds

USA/Germany 1975

96 min

What to expect? What to expect.

Me and my boyfriend popped this into the DVD player yesterday evening, and of course had no expectations what-so-ever (besides hopefully some entertainment). You will probably, like us, need 2 litres of Coca-Cola and a chocolate bar each to get through this.

It's quite easy to explain the plot, so I'll begin with that:

Ilsa (Dyanne Thorne) is the female head of the SS at an experimantation camp in Germany. She gets a kick out of experimenting (i.e. cutting limbs off, boiling people alive, sterilizing them with gruesome methods I will not describe for you, etc.) with both male and female prisoners. Sometimes she sleeps with the male prisoners, but most often that ends with them on an operating table and getting their family treasures cut off. We will also see prisoners infected with diseases, like syphilis, and a lesbian warden raping a female prisoner, accompanied by hairy and drunken SS-men. And a lot of naked bodies.

The surprising thing about this film, which you expect to be really bad and tasteless (and it is, mostly), is that after about half through the picture it actually gets really good. That's when the prisoners gather and figure out a way to escape. With the help of a well-hung German/American man (who thanks to his technique in the sack hasn't had to cut his male limb off, in order to please the sexually frustrated Ilsa), they go berserk and kill guards, in an action scene worthy a normal action movie. This part is actually really good. Especially when Ilsa gets her punishment - that's pretty lovely.

With the present day audience's eyes, this film does not contain as much gore and erotica as one might expect - but it certainly helped pushing the gore trend in movies, not to mention the exploitation genre.

(Note: The cut version of this film is R-rated in the USA, the uncut X-rated. Here in Sweden, everyone from the age of 15 is allowed to watch it.)

A little history lesson?

The interesting thing about Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS is that it states to be based on real life events - we even get a little text screen, informing us of the realism of this film, before the movie begins.

And it's true to some extent - the Ilsa character is obviously based on the real Buchenwald and Majdanek concentration camps commendant Ilse Koch (1906-1967).

Hard to tell them apart, huh?

Ilse Koch, AKA The Beast of Buchenwald, worked at the Buchenwald concentration camp in 1937 (a camp for Jews, Poles, Roma, Jehovah's Witnesses, homosexuals, prisoners of war etc.). She didn't waste any time, and as soon as she was installed there properly, she started torturing the prisoners - a favorite method of hers being to force the prisoners to rape each other in front of an audience. She got half-hearted orders to be a little more human to them.

In 1943, Ilse and her husband Karl Koch were arrested for embezzlement and for murdering prisoners. She was imprisoned until 1945, when her husband got the death penalty and she was set free by the German authorities. Soon, however, the USA stepped in and arrested her again.

At the trial evidence like cut-off tattooes of prisoners and a shrunken human head was revealed. She was sentenced to lifetime imprisonment. September 1, 1967, she was found in her cell, having committed suicide by hanging herself.

Below: First a picture of the evidence - tattooes cut off from prisoners. Film clip: a silent film clip from Ilse Koch's trial, where the evidence is shown.

Our heroine Dyanne Thorne went on making sequels to this film (even though Ilsa got her brain blown in bits by the end of it) - Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks (1976), Ilsa, the Tigress of Siberia (1977) and Greta, the Mad Butcher (1977).

And don't you forget Dyanne's earlier successes with characters like The Fairy Godmother in The Erotic Adventures of Pinocchio (1971) and "Hooker" in Wham Bam Thank You Spaceman (1975).

Some people are just born to make history.

Posters:

Wow, look at how they marketed this movie back in the 1970's! Different posters for each day - "Teaser No. 1 - 4 days prior to opening". Brilliant.