Last night the Lovely Carla and I cracked open a nice bottle of Buena Vista, a Pinot Noir from Sonoma and watched (I never saw it before) Peter Cook (he wrote it) and Dudley Moore's "Bedazzled." It was directed by Stanley Donen, and it is a superb movie, I highly recommend it for your next DVD experience. It was made in 1967, right at the peak of the swinging London scene, and it captures a little of that bright, confusing and dazzling time.
The story is a variation on the Faust story, and well, isn't that the story of our lives? How many of us are willing to "sell our souls" - it's a little shabby thing, isn't it (that is if it really exists) for fame, fortune, sex, drugs, rock & roll? Peter Cook is a revelation, he plays George Spiggot, the latest incarnation of Lucifer the fallen Angel of Light. He teases and torments little Dudley Moore, a short order cook, shy and inarticulate. Raquel Welch makes a cameo appearance as Lust - she is in all her curvaceous, vacuous glory.
Much mayhem and hilarity ensues. The convergence of three glasses of wine, and Cook and More in nun's habits had me laughing so hard, tears were streaming down my cheeks. Ecstasy! But the movie really resonates too in metaphysical banter about god and evil and well, Peter Cook never became as well known as Mr. Moore ("10," & "Arthur"), but he's an absolute treasure. His performance as Spiggot is one for the ages. To know that he also wrote the script puts one in complete awe.
By the way, another great work on the Faust theme is this play by Mickle Maher founder of Theater Oobleck. I saw it in it's original run with Maher in the lead role and it still ranks as one of the greatest theatrical performances I've ever had the pleasure of seeing. I own a copy of the play, I read it once in awhile to remind myself how brilliant one expertly performed monologue can be. It's really that good.
Obviously, that dude Goethe was onto something. And well, Milton really took to the task too. We do have sympathy for the devil, in fact, sometimes this old world seems like the playground where old Lucifer just gets to have a field day. That other dude (or dudette) seems to have high-tailed it to another realm. Who needs the insufferable piety, the harp music, the holier than thou attitude!?
Without even thinking, I loaded up some cds this morning, listening to music while I sip coffee and blog, and I put this disc by the White Stripes in the mix. Get behind me, indeed! As Jack White has remarked, this line can be interpreted at least two ways - "get away from me satan," or "come on, join my team!"
