Sympathy for the Devil (1968)

Director:

Jean-Luc Godard

Writer:

Jean-Luc Godard (writer)

Release Date:

22 April 1969 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Music

Plot:

Godard's documentation of late 1960's western counter-culture, examining the Black Panthers, referring to works by LeRoi Jones and Eldridge Cleaver...

Plot Keywords:

Rolling Stones | Counter Culture | Black Power | Song | Thames

Cast

Sean Lynch	...	Commentary (voice)
Mick Jagger	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones
Brian Jones	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones
Keith Richards	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones (as Keith Richard)
Charlie Watts	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones
Bill Wyman	...	Himself - The Rolling Stones
Anne Wiazemsky	...	Eve Democracy
Iain Quarrier	...	Fascist porno book seller
Frankie Dymon	...	Black power militant (as Frankie Dymon Jnr.)
Danny Daniels	...	Black power militant
Illario Pedro
Roy Stewart	...	Black power militant
Linbert Spencer
Tommy Ansah		(as Tommy Ansar)
Michael McKay

Also Known As:

One Plus One (UK) (director's cut)

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:15 (re-rating) (1997) | UK:X (original rating) | Australia:MA | Argentina:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (video rating) (1997) (uncut) | UK:X (original rating) (cut)

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

Cupid Productions

Trivia:

The film was beset with a variety of production difficulties; among other things, the studio burned down and Brian Jones was arrested for cannabis possession.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Voices (1968)

Cynical, satirical collage of rock documentary and political commentary

One of Nouvelle Vague iconoclast Jean-Luc Godard's most engaging oddities, part music documentary of the Rolling Stones rehearsing and recording "Sympathy for the Devil", part a collage of sketches on modern-day revolution and the struggle of the minorities for freedom, punctuated by a number of double-entendre title cards. Generally ranged alongside Godard's political work of the late sixties, it's in fact a cynical and very twisted meditation on the politics of minorities, since the director equates women's lib, communism, fascism and the Black Panthers' radicalism at the same level, all while the Stones find a way to tell the Devil's take on the history of civilization. Mostly, it's questioning what real impact can theoretical concepts of revolution have in a world where language obscures as much as it shares, as is acutely pointed out in the Black Panther's interview where, once asked how are they going to communicate their aspirations to the white man, the black revolutionary replies he has no idea since black men and white men don't really speak the same language. Is music, then, the universal language that everyone speaks? Godard says nothing. He prefers to film, in very long and beautifully executed tracking one-takes, either the Stones rehearsing in a candid manner, or the various revolutionaries spouting their ideals out loud, while a cynical voiceover reads excerpts of pulp novels with the names replaced by those of post-war politicians. It is, in fact, "one plus one": one half rock documentary of interest to Stones fans, one half political satire and commentary. The beauty lies in mixing them together, but I'll admit that only a hardcore Godard fan can enjoy and make sense of the combination.