椰林月 (MOON OVER MALAYA) (Singapore, 1957, Chun Kim 秦剑 & Chor Yuen 楚原)

椰林月 (MOON OVER MALAYA) (Singapore, 1957, Chun Kim 秦剑 & Chor Yuen 楚原)

In his final film SOLEIL, Pierre Clémenti amalgamates the stylistic elements of his previous film (and sole feature), À L'OMBRE DE LA CANAILLE BLEU, with influences from his poetry and earlier work as a filmmaker. Via dramatic reenactment, Clémenti reflects on his unlawful arrest in 1972 for drug possession, whereupon he was imprisoned, without trial, for 17 months. The film also features extensive footage of Clémenti’s family and children, including his wife Margareth and son Balthazar.

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唐山阿嫂 (CHINA WIFE) (Singapore, 1957, Chan Man & Chor Yuen 楚原)

In 唐山阿嫂 (CHINA WIFE), Keung Chung-ping plays Ah-gau, an impoverished man who leaves his wife, So-ching (Nam Hung), and baby in Macau to travel to Southeast Asia and join his cousin (Patrick Tse) in search of better employment. A series of fortunate events propel him into high society, and soon he falls in love with a tycoon’s daughter, Ming-chu (Patsy Kar Ling).

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SOLEIL (France, 1988, Pierre Clémenti)

SOLEIL (France, 1988, Pierre Clémenti)

In his final film SOLEIL, Pierre Clémenti amalgamates the stylistic elements of his previous film (and sole feature), À L'OMBRE DE LA CANAILLE BLEU, with influences from his poetry and earlier work as a filmmaker. Via dramatic reenactment, Clémenti reflects on his unlawful arrest in 1972 for drug possession, whereupon he was imprisoned, without trial, for 17 months. The film also features extensive footage of Clémenti’s family and children, including his wife Margareth and son Balthazar.

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À L'OMBRE DE LA CANAILLE BLEU (France, 1985, Pierre Clémenti)

À L'OMBRE DE LA CANAILLE BLEU (France, 1985, Pierre Clémenti)

À L'OMBRE DE LA CANAILLE BLEU (English translation: IN THE SHADOW OF THE BLUE RASCAL) is set in the underbelly of “Nécrocity,” a city of nightly terrors. In this fictionalized Paris, fueled by heroin and paranoia, an anarchist group (played by Pierre Clémenti’s inner circle) — whose mastermind is a villainous military leader played by Clémenti himself — tries to keep one step ahead of the grip of state power. After 300 kilos of heroin goes missing, a significant wave of crime is catalyzed.

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LA DEUXIÈME FEMME (France, 1978, Pierre Clémenti)

LA DEUXIÈME FEMME (France, 1978, Pierre Clémenti)

Dense with hallucinatory visuals and frenetic montages, LA DEUXIÈME FEMME presents a filmic whirlwind through Pierre Clémenti’s family life, as well as his life on film sets as an actor. The title of the piece refers to the artist’s second wife, Nadine, but it also functions as a filmic love letter to his mother, and to artists and Warhol superstars Nico and Viva.

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SOUVENIRS, SOUVENIRS (France, 1967-78, Pierre Clémenti)

SOUVENIRS, SOUVENIRS (France, 1967-78, Pierre Clémenti)

SOUVENIRS, SOUVENIRS consists of some of the earliest footage that Pierre Clémenti ever shot. It is the closest of his works to a traditional home movie, although its fleeting shots of Catherine Deneuve on set with Michel Deville and Philippe Garrel during the making of LE LIT DE LA VIERGE are accompanied by bursts of color that would become Clémenti’s signature as an avant-garde cineaste.

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POSITANO (France, 1968, Pierre Clémenti)

POSITANO (France, 1968, Pierre Clémenti)

Positano is an island of the Amalfi Coast that Neptune would have, according to legend, created for the love of a nymph. Not unlike Neptune, Pierre Clémenti’s POSITANO embodies a total love in which family and friends are seized in the same poetic field. Perched on the rocks of the island, the house of Frédéric Pardo and Tina Aumont became, in 1968, a meeting place for the French “underground.” Clémenti lived in Pardo and Aumont’s house for some time and, in POSITANO, created images of dazzling sensuality.

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LA RÉVOLUTION N'EST QU'UN DÉBUT. CONTINUONS LE COMBAT (France, 1968, Pierre Clémenti)

LA RÉVOLUTION N'EST QU'UN DÉBUT. CONTINUONS LE COMBAT (France, 1968, Pierre Clémenti)

Half family photo album, half “ciné-tract,” Pierre Clémenti’s LA RÉVOLUTION N'EST QU'UN DÉBUT. CONTINUONS LE COMBAT follows the actor and filmmaker during the making of Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1968 dramatic feature PARTNER in Italy. In the midst of production, Clémenti travels extensively between Rome and Paris — where the May ‘68 protests were taking place — thereby leading a double life as both artist and activist.

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NEW OLD: OU LES CHRONIQUES DU TEMPS PRÉSENT (France, 1979, Pierre Clémenti)

NEW OLD: OU LES CHRONIQUES DU TEMPS PRÉSENT (France, 1979, Pierre Clémenti)

NEW OLD: OU LES CHRONIQUES DU TEMPS PRÉSENT presents footage that Pierre Clémenti captured over the course of a decade, chronicling his wanderings between street scenes, movie sets, and drug subcultures, and offering an accelerated global tour through various facets of the 1960s and ‘70s counterculture.

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