Cinema
Scorpio Rising
Kenneth Anger · 1963
Synopsis
New York bikers, filmed in garages in Brooklyn, dismantle and polish their machines piece by piece, then dress in studded leather, jeans, chains and dark glasses. Their leader, Scorpio, gets ready surrounded by portraits of James Dean and Marlon Brando and by comic-strip panels. A Halloween party turns into a rowdy uproar, cut with images from a Lutheran religious film in which Christ walks with his disciples; in a disused church, Scorpio leads a ceremony of profanation interspersed with images of flags and Nazi uniforms.
Context
The filmmaker paid, according to some sources, about eight thousand dollars in rights for the songs, nearly half the budget; others say they were used without a licence. Martin Scorsese said that he drew from it the freedom to take the music he needed afterwards. At a screening in Los Angeles, the American Nazi Party protested against the use of its flag, the police seized the film and the theatre manager, Mike Getz, was convicted of obscenity; the California Supreme Court ruled in his favour in December 1964.
Who it is for
A short film of twenty-eight minutes, in four parts, whose soundtrack is made up of popular hits rather than original music.
Prizes and reception
Often cited as a forerunner of the music video, it was added in 2022 to the United States National Film Registry.
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