The Monsterous Master Of Mystical Language

September 3, 2011 9:22 AM

in 1976, surrealist icon Salvador Dali starred and directed in the fake documentary/travelogue Impressions de la haute Mongolie - Impressions of Upper Mongolia - about his quest to find a rare hallucinogenic mushroom. It was intended as a tribute to the late Raymond Roussel. It is available on Youtube in 5 parts. 1 - 2 -3 - 4 - 5 (70 min)
posted by The Whelk (25 comments total)

Dali kept interesting company.
posted by jonmc at 9:28 AM on September 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

Directed in?
posted by koeselitz at 9:30 AM on September 3, 2011

Language is my pallet koeselitz
posted by The Whelk at 9:30 AM on September 3, 2011 [4 favorites]

And Metafilter is your forklift.
posted by koeselitz at 9:34 AM on September 3, 2011 [8 favorites]

Imagine if somebody did an art project where "regular elephants" posed like Dali paintings!
posted by Threeway Handshake at 10:11 AM on September 3, 2011 [2 favorites]

Oh like in collage or something?
posted by TheTingTangTong at 10:13 AM on September 3, 2011

I cannot spell even the simplest words.
posted by TheTingTangTong at 10:13 AM on September 3, 2011

Or like in Spain.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 10:14 AM on September 3, 2011

Dali kept interesting company.

Meh. Alice Cooper is really just this rocker who came up with a gimmick (well, okay, multiple layers of gimmicks piled on top of each other) designed to outrage adults and thus entice youngsters into listening to his music. He's really a 60-something year old guy who hangs out in Phoenix and plays golf all the time. That describes a zillion other people, too.

(That said, he's awesome in concert. Grand Guignol FTW!)
posted by hippybear at 10:17 AM on September 3, 2011

Meh. Alice Cooper is really just this rocker who came up with a gimmick (well, okay, multiple layers of gimmicks piled on top of each other)

and a bunch of fucking amazing songs.
posted by jonmc at 10:30 AM on September 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

I think a lot of adults actually think that on the last day of school, doors are thrown open, clouds of paper erupt from inside the building, and children run out screaming with "School's Out for Summer" playing. It's how they remember their own last days of school, even though it has never happened.

In the meanwhile, I am looking forward to watching the Dali film. He was also involved in Un Chien Andalou, as many of you know, and that's nothing to sneeze at.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 10:53 AM on September 3, 2011

Actually, "School's Out" was playing on the last day of school shortly after end-of-day release for much of my junior high and high school years, possibly multiple times. But it wasn't coming from the school intercom. It was KLAQ, El Paso's rock station which was doing it.

Because the program director there, Magic Mike, had that kind of sense of humor.

He'd also do things like get that brand-new RUSH album which had come out on Tuesday and play it in its entirety really late at night on Friday night. You know, so you could preview it and know whether you should listen to it or not. Nobody had tape players which also could record radio, and of course, there wasn't enough advance notice so you could go out and buy a new TDK SA-90 to record the album. That NEVER HAPPENED.
posted by hippybear at 11:30 AM on September 3, 2011 [2 favorites]

jonmc: You missed the best one.
posted by koeselitz at 11:33 AM on September 3, 2011

Oh cool. Will check out. Recently watched Buñel's Land Without Bread which I now think is the masterwork of fake documentary.
posted by serazin at 11:36 AM on September 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

Some scholars think Land Without Bread was actually a parody of documentaries, which is amazing, as they had scarecely been invented at that time.

He also sort of invented the exploitation documentary decades before Mondo Cane, including one of its least appealing elements: actually killing animals on camera.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 11:49 AM on September 3, 2011

Dali also worked with Disney.
Destino was a concept that started in 1946 and wasn't produced until 2003. MOMA produced a book Dali and Film
He collaborated on other films with Bunuel including L'Age D'Or before they fell out.
Dali often had "interesting" company.
posted by adamvasco at 12:02 PM on September 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

I have just finished reading Bunuel's memoir 'My Last Sigh'. Fascinating stuff.

If you liked Un Chien Andalou, you'll love L'Age D'Or.
posted by ovvl at 12:35 PM on September 3, 2011

Alice Cooper is really just this rocker who came up with a gimmick

"Invariably, when they would play, thousands of people would leave the room, and I knew they had something."
posted by krinklyfig at 1:05 PM on September 3, 2011

Dali kept interesting company.
Indeed he did.
posted by Seekerofsplendor at 1:06 PM on September 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

Raymon Roussel FTW.
posted by From Bklyn at 1:29 PM on September 3, 2011

That was fun. I recommend his Soft Self Portrait documentary. It's wonderful.
posted by zangpo at 2:02 PM on September 3, 2011

Interviewer: "Are you on drugs?"
Dali: "I AM the drug."
posted by msalt at 4:01 PM on September 3, 2011

Dali kept interesting company.
Indeed he did.

Yep.
posted by Monsieur Caution at 5:06 PM on September 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

Meh. Alice Cooper is really just this rocker who came up with a gimmick

He's actually knowledgeable on a wide range of topics, including the history of Milwaukee and its socialist mayors.
posted by drjimmy11 at 7:11 PM on September 3, 2011

it means, the good land
posted by The Whelk at 7:16 PM on September 3, 2011