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Tool93 |
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Post subject: Chemical Wedding: Crowley Film
 Posted: Apr 19, 2008 - 04:02 PM
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*I looked all over for a link that could have previously been made on this subject and could not find one so that is why I posted this.*
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.
Care Fraters and Sorores:
I have stumbled across the Official Trailer for Bruce Dickinson's Film Chemical Wedding. Link---> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9rVv483BTA After the first watching of the Trailer I was greatly disapointed in how he was potrayed but when I watched it again for the 2nd and 3rd time most of it looks like it is purposely a comedy and I love How Crowley says "Hellloooo Ladies" haha its hilarious Well anyways I wanted to see what your view on the movie is.
-Frater KHA
Love is the law, love under will. |
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"Intolerance is evidence of impotence." - Master Therion
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lashtal |
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Post subject: RE: Chemical Wedding, Crowley Film
Posted: Apr 19, 2008 - 04:54 PM
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Site Admin
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lashtal |
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Post subject:
Posted: Apr 19, 2008 - 09:03 PM
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This from Filmofilia:
‘Chemical Wedding’ Sci - Fi - London 7 Premiere
Posted by FionaApril 19, 2008
It was previously announced that Bruce Dickinson’s ‘Chemical Wedding‘ will be unveiled at Cannes Film Festival.
But Julian Doyle, Simon Callow and Bruce Dickinson confirmed that ‘Chemical Wedding‘ will have London world premiere at the 7th Annual London International Festival of Science Fiction and Fantastic Film on Sunday 4th May 2008 - closing night. Sci - Fi - London 7 starts on 30 April.
‘Chemical Wedding’ will be introduced by co-writer Bruce Dickinson, writer/director Julian Doyle and star Simon Callow followed by an audience Q&A.
Based on an original screenplay by Bruce Dickinson, front man of the legendary heavy metal band Iron Maiden, and Julian Doyle, veteran Monty Python second unit director/editor, Chemical Wedding is a supernatural occult thriller inspired by the life and works of Aleister Crowley. Once dubbed ‘the most evil man in Britain’, Crowley was a major Edwardian figure and a scandalous character. Originally a Trinity College Cambridge graduate, he later became an infamous mystic and occult scholar, his entire life a celebration of decadence and, to some, evil.
Starring Simon Callow, Kal Weber, Lucy Cuddon, Jud Charlton, Paul McDowell, John Shrapnel, Richard Franklin, Terence Bayler and Robert Ashby, Chemical Wedding is directed by Julian Doyle (Brazil, The Meaning Of Life, Time Bandits, Life Of Brian, Monty Python & The Holy Grail) and features a musical score by Bruce Dickinson.
Chemical Wedding is distributed by Warner Music Entertainment UK and will open at UK cinemas on 30th May 2008. |
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Paul
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Equinoxstudios |
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Post subject:
Posted: Apr 20, 2008 - 11:22 AM
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Joined: Apr 20, 2008
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| So good this post found me. Just booked my tickets for 4th May. See you there. |
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Tool93 |
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Post subject:
Posted: Apr 21, 2008 - 02:25 AM
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| I do notice that this does seem to have much more comedy in it. So I think it will just obliviate people caring if Crowley was "evil" or not. I sure would enjoy it, that is if I could see it being that I am in the USA -.- |
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"Intolerance is evidence of impotence." - Master Therion
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Equinoxstudios |
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Post subject: Deleted promo Scenes
Posted: Apr 21, 2008 - 09:06 PM
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Forty seconds of fun from the Chemical Wedding never used in the trailer. Good scream and a bit of a beating for Crow...
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=WHDTUzPzrSs
Check out Anger's Rabbit's Moon (Came In The Night short version) on my channel too! |
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lashtal |
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Post subject: RE: Deleted promo Scenes
Posted: Apr 22, 2008 - 07:28 PM
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From booktrade.info:
Mainstream Film Chooses To Self-publish Book Tie-in
Posted at 4:03PM Tuesday 22 Apr 2008
Iron Maiden front man Bruce Dickinson and film director Julian Doyle have opted to self-publish the book tie-in for their forthcoming Chemical Wedding motion picture.
Written by Bruce Dickinson, front man of the legendary Iron Maiden, and Julian Doyle (Time Bandits, Life of Brian), Chemical Wedding is an occult thriller starring Simon Callow inspired by the life of the infamous Edwardian mystic, Aleister Crowley. It will go on general release in cinemas on the 23rd May.
The film tie-in will be self-published by Dickinson and Doyle under the Matador self-publishing imprint to coincide with the film's release.
Dickinson, who has a small cameo role in the film, has stated that "On several levels, I think it will be nice for them [Iron Maiden fans] to see somebody from Maiden doing something else that gets the band's name out there and also potentially gets a bit of respect for heavy metal and all the rest of it.... But, in addition, I think they'll just enjoy it. It's a rollicking good story."
http://www.troubador.co.uk/matador
The book can be pre-ordered here: http://www.troubador.co.uk/book_info.asp?bookid=646 |
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Baphomet111 |
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Post subject: RE: Deleted promo Scenes
Posted: Apr 24, 2008 - 08:58 PM
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| The film does seem to be more of a slap-stick-scifi comedy now that I've seen a few other clips. Not that Chemical Wedding is bad, but it would be nice to see an more artistic film devoted to the guys life. All I've seen is the trailer. No intention of shooting the messenger. |
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lashtal |
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Post subject: RE: Deleted promo Scenes
Posted: May 04, 2008 - 11:40 AM
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From today's UK Telegraph newspaper:
Chemical Wedding Aleister Crowley reincarnated as Simon Callow in a story devised by Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson. Sounds too good to be true? Not this time. |
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Post subject:
Posted: May 04, 2008 - 01:39 PM
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See you all at the Apollo West End tonight!
I'll tell you all about it later... |
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Equinoxstudios |
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Post subject:
Posted: May 05, 2008 - 03:37 AM
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My review for what it's worth...
Fun trailer, but bereft of the usual hype associated with the launch of a movie, I arrived at the Apollo West End to see the Chemical Wedding with mainly my own great expectations.
Stormtroopers from Star Wars greeted moviegoers at the doors as it was the final night of a Sci-Fi festival and after a few beers at the bar we all sat in the theatre and waited. Two simultaneous screenings in adjacent theatres in the same cinema – cast and crew in Screen 4, us common people in the one next door in Screen 5. After a personal introduction by Bruce Dickinson (screenwriter), Julian Doyle (director) and Simon Callow (lead actor) we all looked forward to the film.
The story begins with the arrival of American scientist Mathers from Cal Tech to supervise the installation of a virtual reality simulator suit at Cambridge University. For the very first time this state-of-the-art piece of equipment is being hooked up to a revolutionary new British supercomputer, the Z93, which unbeknown to anyone, has been programmed with a virus by lab assistant Victor who has reduced the rituals of Aleister Crowley into binary code and infected it with them.
The film time shifts back to when mild mannered university lecturer Professor Haddo (Simon Callow) is willingly persuaded into the suit by Victor for its first trial run. Haddo goes missing immediately after his experience in the suit and turns up the following day at a lecture theatre to give a talk on Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” – except that clearly he is no longer the man he used to be, no longer the meek stammering lecturer he was before his VR suit experience but now an outrageous sexually explicit speaker who urinates on his audience (lol). The film goes on to imply that the Z93 supercomputer virus composed by Victor has actually caused Haddo to become the reincarnation of Aleister Crowley and so begins a tale of the apparent depths of depravity that a person possessed by the soul of Aleister Crowley would sink to.
This is the crux of the problem that this film has – just what would someone possessed by the late Aleister Crowley do all day long? “Sex and murder” unfortunately is this film’s disturbing answer and then just how outrageous can this character become? The implication in the trailer was that this portrayal of Crowley might be tongue-in-cheek or humorous, but the result is far more worrying than that.
Numerous examples of exactly “just how evil could a person possessed by Aleister Crowley be” continue in a procession of visual and conceptual shocks ranging from relatively innocuous excrement deposited on an office desk to the crucifixion of a prostitute. Now, controversial a character as Crowley was, I really must ask what Bruce Dickinson is up to here. I listened to Callow emphasise that his portrayal of Haddo was “Playing the part of someone possessed by Crowley… and not actually Crowley Himself” but I see this as a pre-emptive excuse on his part for what we saw on screen and some of the issues that we might have with it.
As for the characters: shallow, meaningless and undefined. Haddo comes over as nothing and we don’t care that he’s been possessed by Aleister Crowley (n.b. Simon Callow’s performance is a delight – I just wish the script had been up to it.), Lia the journalist is our damsel in distress and you don’t care if she’s rescued or not, Aleister Crowley is just pure evil and doesn’t deserve to be reincarnated, Victor is just a virus writing geek and got what he deserved.
Deeply offensive, blatantly sensationalist, Bruce Dickinson’s script leaves me with questions about the target audience of this film – fans of Simon Callow (?), fans of Bruce Dickinson (heavy metal fans who will be disappointed by the soundtrack), fans of Aleister Crowley (please note, only those who specifically want to be thought of as evil and twisted) or practicing occultists (who will be annoyed by this film’s cold and completely non-spiritual content). |
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lashtal |
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Post subject:
Posted: May 05, 2008 - 10:26 AM
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Thanks very much for the review which I found both factually accurate and interesting.
I'll add my own mini-review later today: my take is rather different... |
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ParrachF |
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Post subject: My Review
Posted: May 05, 2008 - 07:23 PM
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I too was there. Sorry to have missed you Paul, would have loved to meet you. And sorry Equinoxstudios to leave you like that but I had a train to catch and an early flight today (But I'm up for a pint in London anytime  )
Well, I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, for what is. Callow performance is gripping and I think the movie is worth watching for this alone. Dickinson's soundtrack is surprisingly good, although metal fans will definitely be disappointed since it is a proper movie soundtrack with a metal-ish credits song that sounded out of place...
Let me also emphasize that the director Doyle, as far as I'm concerned really worked hard on the visuals. It tries to be more than just "this is what's happening". There's powerful visuals and behind the action things that try to captive he who dares to look to the backgrounds (But it's no Matrix in that matter).
As for the rest, the movie is basically driven by Haddow's incarnation of Crowley, trying to blend science with some of Crowley's mystical concepts. I'm sure Paul will delve deep into this in his mini-review.
The problem with the movie, for me, are twofold. Like Equinoxstudios said one his Crowley's representation. Even though Callow insisted he did not play Crowley but someone who believed to be Crowley (and actually one could argue that not all of Crowley's "equations" were inserted into the Z93 computer), I'd say most of what we've seen was more or less the picture I had of Crowley, minus the murders.
The second problem, but it's probably just me, having grown to Thelema via Grant's books, was the lack of actual magic in the movie. There's the ritual that leads to one of the best comic scenes in the movie (the fax machine scene) and the "greatest occult event of history". He needed a Scarlet Woman, but then it is said that he doesn't really need her to cooperate, just her blood [please correct me if I misunderstood it]. That's it, oh and a syringe. Well, this doesn't sound about right. But then again, maybe they actually based it on something that I don't know (and it might in fact be referred to in the book tie-in, which I didn't buy last night).
Anyway, a young Thelemite here but one who enjoyed the movie |
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Post subject:
Posted: May 05, 2008 - 07:58 PM
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| Just a very brief aside, but Simon Callow reviewed I Crowley by Snoo Wilson in the Sunday Telegraph some years ago and it might be useful for someone to dig this out to see Callows performance in the context of his review - anyone got a copy to post??? |
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lashtal |
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Post subject:
Posted: May 05, 2008 - 09:50 PM
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Equinoxstudios wrote: › Just a very brief aside, but Simon Callow reviewed I Crowley by Snoo Wilson in the Sunday Telegraph some years ago and it might be useful for someone to dig this out to see Callows performance in the context of his review - anyone got a copy to post???
Hmmm... I've seen the quote you're presumably referring to: "Brilliant . . . the Great Beast explaining himself in lapel-grabbing prose." It's prominently displayed online in advertising fluff for Snoo's book and is attributed to "Simon Callow, Sunday Telegraph".
I tried to track down the review some time ago but without success. A search just now of the telegraph.co.uk site was equally unsuccessful. |
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Post subject:
Posted: May 05, 2008 - 10:53 PM
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lashtal wrote: › I tried to track down the review some time ago but without success. A search just now of the telegraph.co.uk site was equally unsuccessful.
Same problem I had. Now I wonder if my Informant is also online and has that copy? |
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lashtal |
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Post subject:
Posted: May 05, 2008 - 11:38 PM
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Post subject:
Posted: May 06, 2008 - 12:50 AM
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Many thanks for your long awaited review!
Indeed, is it a thriller? is it a Horror?? is it a comedy??? Not even Julian Doyle wanted to categorise it.
You reckon it's a comedy. Strangely, I didn't and yet I've been an active member of a Thelemic magickal group for 20 years.
This is clearly a film that will provoke a number of different responses. I would be wary of the way in which Lashtal.com will be perceived by the rest of the world because of the spectrum of opinion this film will generate. This may be of no concern to you and I can fully understand that.
Focussing on one of the many interpretations of this film does not diminish the effects of the alternatives. I would provoke you to be wary of a simple dismissal of this film as a comedy, it is capable of causing the perception of Aleister Crowley a great deal of harm.
DWTW is not a license for the subversion of one belief system by the irresponsible action of another. |
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lashtal |
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Post subject:
Posted: May 06, 2008 - 08:16 AM
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Equinoxstudios wrote: › You reckon it's a comedy. Strangely, I didn't and yet I've been an active member of a Thelemic magickal group for 20 years.
Would being a member of such a group help me to determine the genre of this movie?
Quote: › I would be wary of the way in which Lashtal.com will be perceived by the rest of the world because of the spectrum of opinion this film will generate.
LAShTAL.COM has not been involved in the development of the movie and the movie is a piece of entertainment, so I'm not sure I understand the point you're making here.
Quote: › it is capable of causing the perception of Aleister Crowley a great deal of harm.
That is true, of course. Having said that, it's also capable of encouraging some to the serious study of his work.
Quote: › DWTW is not a license for the subversion of one belief system by the irresponsible action of another.
Do you feel that your "belief system" has been "subverted" by the movie? Or perhaps by the contents of Symonds' biographies of Crowley? Or by the publication of his "Magical Record", in which potentially far more damaging material is published? |
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Post subject:
Posted: May 06, 2008 - 09:55 AM
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Hi Paul,
As the dust begins to settle after the impact of the film there are facets that become more clearly illuminated.
I note that this film can be construed as a comedy and my involvement in magickal practices has no bearing on this observance. I mentioned my involvement in a petty effort to qualify my opinion which was of course unnecessary.
Indeed, LAShTAL.com is strong enough to weather any opinions that the 'general public' has about Aleister Crowley, even if that opinion becomes degraded or populated with even more falsehoods.
My knee jerking has been twitched in the implication the film makes that a person posessed by the spirit of Crowley would be capable of murder. Now I never thought that AC would have that in his repertoire and my own respect for the work of this man makes me naturally react to someone implying this in such a public way in the name of 'entertainment'.
The matter may be further complicated by the fact that there are living descendants of AC that have their own reconciliation of the actions and reputation of their origins. That reconciliation may not have included that AC was capable of or had carried out murder. Some of these descendants may wish to object to anything that misrepresents the character of someone as potentially close in blood relation as their grandfather especially as this has been done in such a way in the name of 'entertainment'. This upset is not for me to prempt but merely to observe its possibility.
I then also wish to contemplate why Bruce Dickinson decided to write the prostitute murder scenes. I may not be his target audience but I think he has an idea of who is going to come to his film. This forum has a membership of largely 'free thinkers' and I would like to ask its membership if we are entirely happy about harming the reputation of AC merely in the name of entertainment. |
Last edited by Equinoxstudios on May 06, 2008 - 11:05 PM; edited 1 time in total
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Patriarch156 |
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Post subject:
Posted: May 06, 2008 - 11:04 AM
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