Directed by François Reichenbach • Documentary • With Johnny Hallyday, Les Chaussettes Noires • 1963 • 11 minutes
IN MEMORY OF ROCK captures the power, promise, and fear generated by the early days of rock n’roll. It is also a fascinating study in the juxtaposition of image and music. Outside an arena, a crowd of young people gather for a concert, the camera lingering on them as we hear a Boccherini minuet. Inside, rising French rock stars Eddy Mitchell, Vince Taylor and Johnny Hallyday gyrate in leather jackets and cowboy boots to pounding drumbeats. Meanwhile, the floor in front of the stage turns into a proto-mosh pit (complete with injury), while the police perpetrate violence of their own. Is rock n’roll harmless fun or a social ill? This short offers no judgments, leaving interpretation to the viewer.
Up Next in The Sixties
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FALN
Directed by Peter Gessner & Robert Kramer • Documentary • 1965 • 30 minutes
This 1965 documentary portrait of a civil war is today a remarkable time capsule of Venezuelan political and social history, and valuable background to the ongoing social conflicts in that country.
FALN chronicles k...
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Ladies and Gentlemen... Mr. Leonard C...
Directed by Donald Brittain, Don Owen • Documentary • 1965 • 44 minutes
Produced in 1965, this is an informal portrait of the Montreal poet, novelist and songwriter, Leonard Cohen. He is seen reading his poetry to a rapt audience and also alone, or relaxing with family and friends.
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Paris, a Winter's Day
Directed by Guy Gilles • Documentary • 1962 • 10 minutes
This is a love letter to living in Paris — even on a bitterly cold winter’s day. Interspersed with shots of the city, we hear from Parisians, including a group of boys on the joys of pelting passers-by with snowballs, and a 73-year-old who...
