Is Avi Impressed? Part 3

A friend of mine who’s known me and my family for a long time, once called my dad an “unintentional hipster.” I can see her point. He wears things like Cuban military hats (without irony), goes to Go Go Bordello shows and as we’ve discussed here several times, is nearly impossible to impress. For those of you who are new to this surprisingly popular segment on I’m a Good Story, my dad is a retired CBC editor, who used to be an experimental/cult filmmaker and got his start as an intern on Jesus Christ Superstar. He’s been making his own documentaries for years and has a bunch of awards, like two Canadian Emmy’s aka Geminis. For some reason I still have a hard time understanding, he’s the biggest curmudgeon with specific and often obscure tastes. It takes a lot to impress him. So every month, I use this space to show him a video, usually made by people I know, and ask him to tell me his thoughts.

This month, we took a look at my friend Louise Burn’s latest video, Drop Names Not Bombs, directed by Catherine Lutes.

Louise Burns “Drop Names Not Bombs” from Light Organ Records on Vimeo.

The video, which I was invited to take part in but couldn’t because I had improv class, centres around a karaoke party that is hypnotized by Louise’s alluring beauty. It stars a motley crew of familiar characters/my friends. Here’s what Avi had to say about it. I must tell you, his reaction surprised me. And just a warning, Avi’s first language isn’t English.

Avi’s summary: No storyline. It didn’t cross my mind. It was a combination of many colours, blue, pink. It’s very psychedelic so there’s no continuity. It’s not a story or a love story or anything like this. There’s no story like this, except the story of the lyrics. It’s a makeup video for a nice song and lyrics, but it doesn’t necessarily portray the lyrics, which I don’t care. It all together works.

Initial Thoughts: I like the song. I recognize the style as late 60s, mid-60s. Very psychedelic. I see your old friend, your old boyfriend in it. You guys are on good terms, right? I went to see the singer (Louise) here in Toronto but we had to leave because the sound blew out my eardrums. I hadn’t brought my earmuffs.

Overall: It’s a good song and it’s a very nice film. I don’t care what kind of picture she uses, but she does it well. I like the lighting. It looks more expensive than they probably paid. I know it’s low-budget production, but it looks good.

Say one nice thing: If I’ll remember something from the film, definitely it’ll be the lighting, the song, not the faces but a combination of the club, a party. It looks more like a disco club place that I used to go to in the 60s. I don’t know the significance of the piece. I can connect the voice to the colour. If I hear the song again on the radio I’ll connect it to some colours and images.

Were you impressed?: Yeah. I was impressed.

There you have it! We have a winner! I never thought this day would come! Apparently in order to impress my dad, you need to hypnotize him with psychedelic swirls and flashing colours. NOTED!

Hi reader? If you got a video you’d like my dad to watch, send me a link to write@eliannalev.com or leave one in the comment section below and don’t forget to press a bunch of the buttons below. 

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