I really wish there was a readily available Blu Ray box of the man's work. They always seem to be accessible via North American YouTube, but still.
How BFI or Criterion has not put this out is beyond me.
Also, as much as I loved 'Summer of Soul' - 'Can't Get Your Out of My Head' was my favorite documentary of the year, if not film, from 2021. Curtis is likely too subversive for mainstream/the Academy. Perhaps this is why his films haven't been released in a proper format. Although I'm sure music licensing is also at play as well.
The real obstacle to releasing his work is the rights clearances since his films are largely comprised of
pre-existing television news footage (which can be notoriously expensive, at least in the US). Not to
mention all of the music copyrights. An example of this is something like Clive James' series Fame in the 20th Century, which hasn't seen the light of day since it's original broadcast in
1993 largely due to the majority of the footage being news material.
I'm greatly looking forward to watching his new documentary series on Russia, TraumaZone, which I think has just appeared on BBC iPlayer today. Apparently it's mostly comprised of video footage from Glasnost to the end of the twentieth century (and rise of Putin), and, in a departure from his usual work, features no voiceover. There's a short trailer here:
The new 'stock footage' element that stood out in that video appears to be of the Fentanyl and Xylazine addicts collapsed on the streets, which I think may be the first evidence showing that Curtis is aware of the existence of that issue. Since seeing videos of some of those shocking 'zombie' street videos I had been wondering about whether this would be something that would make it into an Adam Curtis piece, particularly given that All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace had tackled earlier societal approaches to self-medication becoming normalised into a cultural phenomenon.
(The big question though is whether he is aware of China's key role in the situation as the source of all of the product)
I had no clue that Curtis directed this 1995 promo for Gang of Four’s “Tattoo”, which they remastered for the album Shrinkwrapped’s 30th anniversary. Perfect pairing of video director and musical artist, as they were very vocally anti-capitalist and critical of Western political machines
New documentary coming in June: Shifty: Living in Britain at the End of the Twentieth Century in which Curtis appears to be diving into all of the cultural forces that are so polarising decades into the 21st century, and suggesting that they are intertwined with political control mechanisms. I love that there is literally an elephant in the room in the stock footage!
colinr0380 wrote: Sun May 18, 2025 10:37 am
New documentary coming in June: Shifty: Living in Britain at the End of the Twentieth Century in which Curtis appears to be diving into all of the cultural forces that are so polarising decades into the 21st century, and suggesting that they are intertwined with political control mechanisms. I love that there is literally an elephant in the room in the stock footage!
Cheers for the heads up on this. It comes out tomorrow. I can't wait.
When a film about Britain opens with Jimmy Savile and four kids being welcomed into her study by Margaret Thatcher you know you're in for something special!
Typical for Britain that when you are trying to drift off into your South Seas Island meditative fantasy there always has to be someone outside the window mowing the darn lawn!
(I'm still early in the series, but I wonder if Curtis is going to acknowledge the famous quote by Thatcher that Tony Blair and New Labour were her greatest achievement)
