Derek Jarman was an English artist and filmmaker who worked primarily outside the mainstream. Throbbing Gristle’s music featured in a few of his works, most notably the 1980 version of his hour-long In the Shadow of the Sun, a collection of Super 8 film shorts re-shot to 16mm. I picked up the soundtrack record last week in Portland, so figured I’d give the movie a watch prior to listening to the album. You too can watch it HERE.
(Pressed ‘Play’)
(10 minutes later…)
OK, I didn’t get all the way through the film. Look, I’m open to a fair amount. But there really wasn’t any kind thread to follow here, neither narrative not subject matter. Just some random films, often with one superimposed over another, the whole thing washed out in grays and oranges. I feel like after 10 minute I’d pretty much seen the entire thing. Cynthia Rose, reviewing the film in 1981 for Time Out, lists out the obvious references before concluding that… well… let’s leave in her own words. “But alas, zilch emerges from them; indeed, Jarman’s genuine imagination as a designer appears totally in abeyance. And with a running time of 54 minutes, it’s just not possible to keep your mind from wandering out to make a baloney sandwich.”
But what about the soundtrack? It’s interesting – much more approachable than the standard Throbbing Gristle fare. It’s experimentally electronic, lacking in the bizarre lyrics (though there are a few non-distinct, distant vocalizations in parts) harsh soundscapes the collective are better known for. This feels a lot like Carter and Christopherson leading the way, creating a generally ambient base layer upon which interesting little mysteries are added. It definitely has a soundtrack feel, and clearly Throbbing Gristle understood the assignment. What’s interesting (at least to me…) is that given the film is silent and not comprised of charged imagery, a significant amount of the emotional content is derived from the music.
Music From The Derek Jarman Film In The Shadow Of The Sun was reissued on CD back in the 1990s and 2000s, but it doesn’t appear to have been put out again on vinyl.