Tonite Let's All Make Love in London (1967)

So much average

Sadly Over-hyped

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Encapsulated in 67 minutes of blown-up 16mm color film is Swinging London at its best! Everything is there: the music, the protests, the stars, the fashion, the artists. Presented in the style of the sixties, odd camera movements, psychedelic color effects and complicated montages of stock footage combined with new material. Organised in chapters, we see some interviews of then and sometimes still famous people talking about what is going on in their lives and in London particularly.Sadly the color of the film faded into brownish red mostly, every trace of blue completely gone. It is obviously the work of someone new to the medium, because he does not hesitate to try out various effects, using the music to its best advantage.I just saw the film yesterday at Vienna"s International Film Festival and Peter Whitehead was there and talked about it. Great guy!P.S. I don't understand why so many reviewers write about Pink Floyd in this film. They are there but don't play an important role. Some reviewers definitely refer to a different film.

For die-hard fans of Pink Floyd only. This is a history-lesson into the psychedelic London underground of the mid-60's, where light-shows, "Happenings", Beat-poetry, and spacey music were all the rage. This film is mainly several pieces of concert-footage of Pink Floyd in its original incarnation, when Syd Barret was still in the band, prior to him loosing his marbles and being replaced by David Gilmour. You see Syd and the band playing some long sets of "Interstellar Overdrive" on stage under strobe-lights, a piece of music that true fans love and which the uninitiated often find meandering and boring due to the modern short-attention span. This is Space-Rock, it ain't Britney Spears.You get to hear Allen Ginsburg recite poetry over images of the London night-life. You see John Lennon attending one of Yoko Ono's famous performance-art pieces, prior to them having met. You see Eric Burdon walking around. It's basically a slice-of-life in the heart of what's now called "the Swinging 60's". View it, if you can find it, for the history, if nothing else. For Floyd fans it's one of very few opportunities to see Syd Barret playing with the band, which is reason enough to seek it out.

Tonight Lets All... is not a flashy hollywood movie, designed for today's Attention Deficit Disorder type of filmgoers. What it is is a unique and well crafted look at London in the swinging 60's. Peter Whitehead made this film inspired by the London underground scene of 1966-67, which included such bands as Pink Floyd (who perform the great bulk of the films music), The Soft Machine, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, and others. This is probably not the kind of thing that would be well recieved in theatres. There aren't any computer generated insects flaying people alive and being shot to bits in return, nor is there any gratuitous sexuality or repeated foul language use. As a documentary of the underground scene in 1967 London, Whitehead's film is a testament to vision, creativity, and the spirit of the day. There are film clips of Pink Floyd in the recording studio and performing at the 14 hour Technicolor Dream (a huge music and art festival) along with original guitarist, singer, songwriter Syd Barrett. If you like historical documentaries, give this one a try.

It's worth a viewing, just to say you've seen it. Sadly, it's dull and they picked my least favourite floyd tune 'Interstellar' to focus on. Still, it's a time-piece and you should have a wee look at it. Regards as the madcap laughs... Drop me a line Floyd/Syd fans: