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Released by: BFI
Released on: 5/25/2009
Director: Arnold L. Miller
Cast: David Gell
Year: 1965
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The Movie:
While not quite as interesting as its predecessor, London In The Raw, Arnold L. Miller's second attempt at cashing in on the success of Mondo Cane and its countless knock offs is never the less worth a look, particularly for those who enjoy bizarre anthropological digs through counter cultures past.
After a particularly graphic opening salvo in which a woman gives birth to a baby (some sort of attempt to provide a though provoking context to the picture, we can guess) the film dives in head first into how kids these days tend to grow up into different subcultures. We learn about mods, rockers and pinball wizards as well as hats. Yep. Hats. From there, we learn how the battle of the sexes has opened up doors for the modern woman, and now she can learn martial arts, get tattooed or put on all manner of make up appliances to change her very appearance. Woman, thou art a chameleon indeed!
From here we wander around London a bit more and check out a factory that processes chickens, converting them from ugly birds into tasty morsels and stopping into a club now and again to see what's up with the city's sexier citizens. It all winds up with a completely pointless but equally welcome reenactment of a Jack The Ripper murder that doesn't so much succeed in closing out the film on a logical note as it does in confusing those who watch it. It's pointless, but it's trashy and bloody and somehow it fits like a square peg through a round hole.
While London In The Raw did have a more serious tone to it, this sequel has an 'everything but the kitchen sink' mentality to it. Primitive London isn't nearly as cohesive in its structure or its narrative and seems to want to emphasize shock value over enlightenment, all of this in spite of the classy narration that comes courtesy of David Gell.
That said, as dopey as the movie is, mondo fans will eat it up as most of the staples of the genre are all here - sex, violence, a little blood, throw in a goldfish and yep, hats, and you're pretty much ready to go. There's even some completely out of place 'dialogue' between the film's editor and producer thrown in as some sort of completely inappropriate attempt at comic relief that just adds to the overall wackiness of the film. With the international hunger for mondo movies in full swing at the time that this picture played British theaters in 1965 it's not hard to imagine how it got butts in seats and turned a pretty decent profit. It was also probably pretty shocking to the audiences of the day, even if by modern standards it doesn't seem particularly harsh anymore - even if newborn babies covered in slime are still icky.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The BFI's 1.33.1 fullframe 1080p high definition transfer, taken from the film's original negative, is excellent. There's a healthy coat of natural looking film grain present throughout but no real print damage and the color reproduction is very strong and natural looking, without ever looking artificially pumped up. Skin tones, of which there are many on display, also fare quite well and look nice and detailed and lifelike, not pink or waxy at all. Shadow detail is also strong, with nice inky black levels staying strong and consistent without smearing the backgrounds or hiding anything from the camera. Close up shots of the various people in the various scenes are very crisp and even the scenes that take place in dreary, smoky, dark night clubs look quite good.
The English language 48 kHz/24 bit PCM 2.0 Mono track, which comes with optional closed captioning in English only, doesn't have a ton of range and shows the limitations of its source but is otherwise fine. There are no problems with hiss or distortion to complain about nor are there any issues with the levels. The various musical bits, both performed live in front of the camera and on the soundtrack, sound quite good while the narration is always crisp and clear.
As they did with London In The Raw, the BFI has included some interesting short documentaries that compliment Primitive London's look at the changing times it set out to document. The first short is Carousella, a twenty-six minute bit that takes a look at peeler joints by following a trio of dancers and documenting their lives both on and off stage. The black and white photography does a nice job of showing off the three ladies' considerable assets as they shake their money makers for a rather proper looking crowd of gentlemen and while this may not be a particularly deep piece, it's at least one that's fun to look at.
Up next is a seventeen minute interview with Al Burnett from 1967 in which the owner of the Stork Club talks about the difficulties of having to deal with rather harsh government enforced laws in relation to booze, girls and gambling and how a good club owner, through some clever thinking, could run a successful business in spite of these very strict rules. A fifteen minute interview with a strip-club manager named Stuart McCabe from 1968 provides some further insight into the bump and grind industry of 1960s London explaining the positive side of the trade by offering up the 'pro nudie bar' stance that establishments such as his own keep prostitutes off the streets and offer up thrills in a much safer and more controlled environment. A six minute interview with a dancer named Shirley offers up this one particular woman's insight into how she got started in the stripping business and what it's like making a living in the industry.
Rounding out the extras on the disc are the film's sensationalist original fullframe theatrical trailer, some classy animated motion menus, and chapter selection sub-menus. All of the supplements are presented in full high definition.
Aside from that, the BFI have also included a nice full color insert booklet containing some essays on the film, some vintage reviews of the picture, biographies for the two principal filmmakers, and short pieces on the bonus documentaries that are included in the supplemental section of the disc.
The Final Word:
While it's hard to take much of this seriously as an actual documentary, Primitive London is still an entertaining time capsule of a film which shamelessly shows off the seedy side of the big city in an amusing and enjoyable enough way. The BFI's Blu-ray release looks fantastic and contains a wealth of supplements and as such comes highly recommended.