Todd Haynes docu announcement

[iaredatsun]

Has anyone been able to watch the bluray disc extras? Like the full John Cale and Moe Tucker interviews?

I'm annoyed that this is the first bluray that I have bought which does not play on my Mac. I'm using VLC and have downloaded and installd the latest enrcyption keys.

I'd be interested to hear what people think of the interviews, before I think what to do to get around this non-playback problem.

[rnranimal]

I have only watched the Venus in Furs film which I found disappointing but I was able to rip the disc to my Mac using Makemkv. I ripped it as the full disc and VLC plays it. Makemkv gave me a message about new encryption it didn't recognize but I let the rip keep going and when it was done, I had a perfectly playable rip of the disc.

[iaredatsun]

I have only watched the Venus in Furs film which I found disappointing but I was able to rip the disc to my Mac using Makemkv. I ripped it as the full disc and VLC plays it. Makemkv gave me a message about new encryption it didn't recognize but I let the rip keep going and when it was done, I had a perfectly playable rip of the disc.

Thank-you, RnR - I’m wondering whether you are working on a PC or Mac, but I’ll give that a go. I’m on Mac.

[rnranimal]

I have only watched the Venus in Furs film which I found disappointing but I was able to rip the disc to my Mac using Makemkv. I ripped it as the full disc and VLC plays it. Makemkv gave me a message about new encryption it didn't recognize but I let the rip keep going and when it was done, I had a perfectly playable rip of the disc.

Thank-you, RnR - I’m wondering whether you are working on a PC or Mac, but I’ll give that a go. I’m on Mac.

I'm on Mac. A 2015 MacBook Air with an external blu-ray drive.

[iaredatsun]

Thank-you, RnR - I’m wondering whether you are working on a PC or Mac, but I’ll give that a go. I’m on Mac.

I'm on Mac. A 2015 MacBook Air with an external blu-ray drive.

Yes. External bluray here too. Ok it worked perfectly thank-you. No encryption key error messages

The extended Jonathan Richman is nice. And they've done the same for Mary W too, which i have not watched yet.

The Cale and Tucker interview is a bit uninspiring, being as it is exactly like watching a four-way zoom meeting, which I'm sure some of us have had enough of over the covid era. I thought that they'd have extended versions of the interviews used in the film.

I'm not sure why you found Venus in Furs disappointing, it is after all an experimental film that just happens to have a bit of VU footage. I've enjoyed it before and will definitely watch it again.

With Mekas' Walden (Diaries, Notes & Sketches), I'm surprised that they chose a well-known section of this film without any VU in it.

And I love Mekas' Award Presentation to Warhol film, but I'm not really sure why it is here, unless shown in deference to Mekas himself.

[rnranimal]

I'm on Mac. A 2015 MacBook Air with an external blu-ray drive.

Yes. External bluray here too. Ok it worked perfectly thank-you. No encryption key error messages

The extended Jonathan Richman is nice. And they've done the same for Mary W too, which i have not watched yet.

The Cale and Tucker interview is a bit uninspiring, being as it is exactly like watching a four-way zoom meeting, which I'm sure some of us have had enough of over the covid era. I thought that they'd have extended versions of the interviews used in the film.

I'm not sure why you found Venus in Furs disappointing, it is after all an experimental film that just happens to have a bit of VU footage. I've enjoyed it before and will definitely watch it again.

With Mekas' Walden (Diaries, Notes & Sketches), I'm surprised that they chose a well-known section of this film without any VU in it.

And I love Mekas' Award Presentation to Warhol film, but I'm not really sure why it is here, unless shown in deference to Mekas himself.

I was disappointed by Venus in Furs as it's presented as silent while a soundtrack exists.

I agree, it was strange they choose a non-VU portion of film in which the VU is shown. I was disappointed overall with the extras because none of the archive footage was VU oriented. Venus was the closest but leaves off the soundtrack with VU music and barely shows the VU in the film.

[iaredatsun]

I was disappointed by Venus in Furs as it's presented as silent while a soundtrack exists.

Yes, I noted it was silent and wondered what that meant. Has anyone ever seen the film with a complete soundtrack?

There's scant information about the film. The only book I have that lists it, says that all Heliczer's films were shot silent on 8mm and separate soundtracks were made, some of which featured the VU. But then do they still exist? Olivier's vu website entry supports there being a 7.5 ips tape of the soundtrack. We do not know where his information comes from.

If there a soundtrack it was on tape, it could have been lost? A shared section of the film, as part of the film 'Dirt' does have a soundtrack.

I noted the Venus In Furs was restored by EYE Films in Holland, but cannot see any mention of it on their site.

Have you heard/seen it with soundtrack somewhere?

[bleach]

This is the section from a Cinematheque programme for March 1966, says the 'soundtrack' for VIF was performed live by Angus Maclise's 'Aquarium Orchestra'.

[Mark]

The following information is on the old Piero website by Ondrej. The source isn't mentioned but it reads like it's from another catalogue/programme:

VENUS IN FURS (1965)
Format: 16mm, 16 minutes, color, silent with sound on tape
Director: Piero Heliczer
Cinematography: Piero Heliczer
Cast: John Cale, Piero Heliczer, Angus MacLise, Lou Reed, Barbara Rubin, The Velvet Underground
Music: The Velvet Underground (“Heroin”, “Venus in Furs” with Piero Heliczer on saxophone)
Sound Engineer: CBS-TV News

“This companion film to SATISFACTION is set at the opposite solstice and recapitulates part of DIRT. With Julie Garfield and Barbara Rubin (as Nuns), Chas Stanley (as Death), Margaret Boyce Cam (as the Nurse), Lou Reed, John Cale, Angus Maclise and others. A chess game under the bridge becomes a party in Hell. A must for lepidopterists.” – Piero Heliczer.

The received wisdom (not necessarily correct!) is that Heliczer used audio of the band playing from the CBS 'Making of an Underground Film' excerpt at screenings of Venus in Furs. Of course now we have the full CBS excerpt, there's no music on it. There is, however a lengthy period of silence on that excerpt, which makes me wonder whether it's a damaged or incomplete copy.

Either way, no VU soundtrack for Venus in Furs / Making of an Underground Film has ever emerged. We would have heard it if it had.

[rnranimal]

The following information is on the old Piero website by Ondrej. The source isn't mentioned but it reads like it's from another catalogue/programme:

VENUS IN FURS (1965)
Format: 16mm, 16 minutes, color, silent with sound on tape
Director: Piero Heliczer
Cinematography: Piero Heliczer
Cast: John Cale, Piero Heliczer, Angus MacLise, Lou Reed, Barbara Rubin, The Velvet Underground
Music: The Velvet Underground (“Heroin”, “Venus in Furs” with Piero Heliczer on saxophone)
Sound Engineer: CBS-TV News

“This companion film to SATISFACTION is set at the opposite solstice and recapitulates part of DIRT. With Julie Garfield and Barbara Rubin (as Nuns), Chas Stanley (as Death), Margaret Boyce Cam (as the Nurse), Lou Reed, John Cale, Angus Maclise and others. A chess game under the bridge becomes a party in Hell. A must for lepidopterists.” – Piero Heliczer.

The received wisdom (not necessarily correct!) is that Heliczer used audio of the band playing from the CBS 'Making of an Underground Film' excerpt at screenings of Venus in Furs. Of course now we have the full CBS excerpt, there's no music on it. There is, however a lengthy period of silence on that excerpt, which makes me wonder whether it's a damaged or incomplete copy.

Either way, no VU soundtrack for Venus in Furs / Making of an Underground Film has ever emerged. We would have heard it if it had.

Has anyone actually seen Lou anywhere in the film? I saw Cale and Moe (not listed above).