SPIRITUS SANCTUS

 

La Spiritata, d. Lilian Schwartz (1976)

Ground breaking computer generated graphics from one of the pioneers, cool (and cool looking) Lillian Schwartz (1927-2024).

RUNNING MAN

 

Olympiad, d. by Lililan Schwartz and Ken Knowlton (1971)

Based on Eadweard Muybridge's seminal photographic studies of a running man, this short film made in Bell Studios was one of the first ever computer animated films, and was delivered in time for the 1972 Olympics in Munich. For the record, Knowlton wrote the algorithms, and Schwartz edited.

It's worth mentioning that cool looking person Lillian Schwartz is happily still with us, having turned 97 in July. Her continued presence in this world enriches us all. 

SET YOUR LIFE ON FIRE

Ruins were formed in 1978 in Mestre, a small town just outside of Venice where I once stayed for a few days in the late eighties. In the long, warm Summer evenings, the people of the town would gather in the main square and drink wine and socialise and dance to angry electronic music about how horribly bourgeois they all were, something that growing up in rural Essex had not prepared me for. I genuinely miss the place.

THE POST-APOCALYPTIC TRIBES OF NEW EARTH

OPEN WARFARE

Warrior Of The Lost World, d. David Worth (1983)


aka Mad Rider aka Vigilante of the Lost Earth aka Raiders of the Omega Year

This Italian production takes elements of Mad Max and The Warriors and supplements them with a wisecracking supersonic motorcycle and a rebellion against an Orwellian police state over seen by Donald Pleasence. It is not entirely successful in it goals, and limitations of both budget and artistry are evident. It ends in a singalong, and there are many small explosions.

I have a fondness for these cheap post-apocalyptic movies - or is it a weakness?