Murder a la Mod (De Palma, 1967)

[justeleblanc]

From De Palma a la Mod

Fangoria reported yesterday that Murder a la Mod, the extremely rare 1967 feature from Brian De Palma, will be released on DVD September 12th via Image Entertainment (and a big thank you to Akahan for letting us know about it!). I had the chance to see this film at the 2002 De Palma retrospective in Paris, and told De Palma afterward that it needed to be on DVD, because his fans would love it. He said at the time that he had no idea where the negative was (De Palma had provided his own personal print for the Paris screenings)-- perhaps now someone has found it, although I also mentioned that even a second-generation copy would be most welcomed.
In any case, Murder a la Mod provides a good early look at several elements that would become staples of De Palma's cinema. The "peep art" of De Niro's Greetings voyeur begins here. The various perspectives on a pivotal event, as explored in later films like Raising Cain and Snake Eyes, here produce contrasts and shifts in tone that are comedic in and of themselves, yet with a sinister edge that catches the viewer off guard. And the ability of the camera to record truth and lies at the same time is also deftly explored.

Following a catchy theme song written and sung by William Finley (who also plays a mute named Otto), Murder a la Mod opens with a filmmaker auditioning girls, including Jennifer Salt, for a film in which nudity will be required. The off-camera voice providing direction for the girls sounds like De Palma himself, and the voice gets noticeably irritated when one of the girls balks at removing her brassiere. The film that follows seems, from today's perspective, like the rough sketch of a blueprint for the De Palma oeuvre to come. Yet as loose as the film is, one can sense the De Palma of Sisters preparing his later entrance into more controlled filmmaking (Murder a la Mod has a much tighter narrative than either Greetings or Hi, Mom!).

Image's DVD will pair Murder a la Mod with The Moving Finger, a 1963 film that, like De Palma's film, was shot in New York's Greenwich Village. Finger was produced, written, directed, and edited by Larry Moyer. The Fangoria article mentions that DVD extras will be announced at a later date.

[Dylan]

This sounds like a lot of fun.

I hope De Palma's short films are included on this release as well (it seems like that would make perfect sense, but you never know). If not, I'll have to get that French DVD.

[justeleblanc]

It looks like it will just be the double feature.... unfortunately

[Dylan]

I'll still wait and order the shorts DVD (which I really want to see) until there's an official update, but Image not including the short films does seem like a missed opportunity (though they would constitute a nearly three hour time). But I'm sure we agree that even with just those two films it will be quite an awesome package.

Can anybody vouch for this eBay seller (from Asia, so it may be an Asian knockoff, but the price is right...it's $20 more everywhere else)

[Jeff]

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