{"id":89097,"date":"2022-12-28T19:36:31","date_gmt":"2022-12-29T02:36:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=89097"},"modified":"2022-12-28T19:54:54","modified_gmt":"2022-12-29T02:54:54","slug":"sympathy-for-the-devil-1968","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=89097","title":{"rendered":"Sympathy for the Devil \/ One Plus One (1968)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Maybe the devil is God in exile.&#8221; <\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-for-the-Devil-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-for-the-Devil-Poster-222x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"222\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-89107\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-for-the-Devil-Poster-222x300.png 222w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-for-the-Devil-Poster-95x128.png 95w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-for-the-Devil-Poster-200x270.png 200w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-for-the-Devil-Poster.png 699w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 222px) 100vw, 222px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nClips of the Rolling Stones recording &#8220;Sympathy for the Devil&#8221; in London&#8217;s Olympic Studios are interspersed with scenes of Black Power activists in a junkyard, an adult bookstore with Maoist hostages, and a young peasant woman (Anne Wiazemsky) being interviewed in a meadow.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>African Americans<\/li>\n<li>Documentary<\/li>\n<li>Jean-Luc Godard Films <\/li>\n<li>Rock &#8216;n Roll<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nThe origin story of this <em>avant garde<\/em> pastiche film by Jean-Luc Godard (part fiction, part documentary, part staged readings of political texts) is that he went to England to make a documentary about abortion, only to have the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Abortion_Act_1967\">Abortion Act of 1967<\/a> make this no longer such a hot topic &#8212; so he stayed there with the intention of filming either the Beatles or the Rolling Stones (and only the latter accepted). The result is hard to make any narrative sense of at all &#8212; though it&#8217;s not necessarily supposed to. Music lovers will likely enjoy all the scenes in which &#8220;Sympathy for the Devil&#8221; slowly emerges through plenty of creative trial and error:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Jagger.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Jagger.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"881\" height=\"661\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-89101\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Jagger.png 881w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Jagger-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Jagger-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Jagger-768x576.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Jagger-360x270.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 881px) 100vw, 881px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Song-Chorus.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Song-Chorus.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"877\" height=\"649\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-89104\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Song-Chorus.png 877w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Song-Chorus-300x222.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Song-Chorus-128x95.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Song-Chorus-768x568.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Song-Chorus-365x270.png 365w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 877px) 100vw, 877px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8230; (though we <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0063665\/trivia?item=tr0620304\">never do hear the final song, at least not in Godard&#8217;s version of the film<\/a>). Meanwhile, Godard fans will likely view all the weird interstitial material as simply part of his broader cinematic commentary on Marxism and revolution. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Black-Syntax.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Black-Syntax.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"879\" height=\"659\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-89102\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Black-Syntax.png 879w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Black-Syntax-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Black-Syntax-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Black-Syntax-768x576.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Black-Syntax-360x270.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 879px) 100vw, 879px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The prize for oddest sequence is a tie between a scene in a bookstore where <em>Mein Kampf<\/em> is being read out loud and patrons give a <em>heil<\/em> salute after making their purchase: <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Bookstore-Mein-Kampf.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Bookstore-Mein-Kampf.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"887\" height=\"575\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-89103\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Bookstore-Mein-Kampf.png 887w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Bookstore-Mein-Kampf-300x194.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Bookstore-Mein-Kampf-128x83.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Bookstore-Mein-Kampf-768x498.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Bookstore-Mein-Kampf-417x270.png 417w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 887px) 100vw, 887px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8230; and Wiazemsky wandering around a field followed by a film crew, answering either &#8220;yes&#8221; or &#8220;no&#8221; to a serious of questions designed for exactly such binary responses (&#8220;Do you think drugs are a spiritual form of gambling?&#8221;). <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Maybe-the-Devil.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Maybe-the-Devil.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"876\" height=\"652\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-89105\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Maybe-the-Devil.png 876w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Maybe-the-Devil-300x223.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Maybe-the-Devil-128x95.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Maybe-the-Devil-768x572.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Maybe-the-Devil-363x270.png 363w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 876px) 100vw, 876px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Is it worth spending more time analyzing this flick? Yes. No. I&#8217;m really not sure &#8212; though of course Godard fans will have a field day. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> Peary lists a total of 24 films by Godard (RIP) in <em>GFTFF<\/em>; I have 11 left to watch and review. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>An awesome title track song<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Piano.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Piano.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"881\" height=\"653\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-89110\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Piano.png 881w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Piano-300x222.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Piano-128x95.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Piano-768x569.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Piano-364x270.png 364w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 881px) 100vw, 881px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Colorful cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Crane-Shot.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Crane-Shot.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"877\" height=\"649\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-89100\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Crane-Shot.png 877w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Crane-Shot-300x222.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Crane-Shot-128x95.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Crane-Shot-768x568.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Sympathy-Devil-Crane-Shot-365x270.png 365w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 877px) 100vw, 877px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo; this one is only must-see for Godard completists. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0063665\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1970\/04\/27\/archives\/screen-sympathy-for-the-devil-11.html\">NY Times Original Review (spoiler alert)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/thespinningimage.co.uk\/cultfilms\/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=10953\">Spinning Image Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Maybe the devil is God in exile.&#8221; Synopsis: Clips of the Rolling Stones recording &#8220;Sympathy for the Devil&#8221; in London&#8217;s Olympic Studios are interspersed with scenes of Black Power activists in a junkyard, an adult bookstore with Maoist hostages, and a young peasant woman (Anne Wiazemsky) being interviewed in a meadow. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: African Americans Documentary Jean-Luc Godard Films Rock &#8216;n Roll Review: The origin story of this avant garde pastiche film by Jean-Luc Godard (part fiction,&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=89097\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=89097"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89097\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89124,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89097\/revisions\/89124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=89097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=89097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=89097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}