Back to the future, after a fashion. A couple of years ago I was pleased to discover that Swissmade: 2069 (1968) had finally surfaced in full-length form on the internet. Fredi M. Murer’s short feature was the first science-fiction film that HR Giger was involved with, made at a time when Alejandro Jodorowsky was still in Mexico and Ridley Scott was a little-known director of TV ads. Giger designed the mysterious “Humanoid” that wanders around Brutalist interiors interviewing the Swiss citizens of the future, and also appears in front of the camera with his drawings and paintings. There’s no need to repeat myself by writing about the film again, this is mainly an announcement that Rarefilmm has just posted a much better copy (including English subs) than was previously available on YouTube.
Watching this again I’m reminded of an intention I’ve had for a while of putting together a list of offbeat SF films, a collection of the unusual, the unpredictable, the seldom-seen or the downright weird that offers an alternative to the cultural imperialism of Hollywood. Swissmade: 2069 would be a candidate for such a list even though it only runs for 40 minutes and presents a rather stereotypical view of a future world. Just now I’m a little too preoccupied with design and illustration work to consider such an endeavour, and I’m sure similar lists exist already at Letterboxd or somewhere. But it’s an idea for the future. Our future. Watch this space.
Previously on { feuilleton }
• Art on film: Providence
• Giger’s first alien: Swissmade: 2069
• HR Giger’s Passagen
• Heimkiller and High
• The Man Who Paints Monsters In The Night
• Hans by Sibylle
• Giger’s Tarot
• HR Giger album covers
• Giger’s Necronomicon
• Dan O’Bannon, 1946–2009
• Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Dune
• The monstrous tome
John~
Another great post on Giger! Thank you.
You might be interested in book I just published last week: H.R. Giger <> Cartoons 1960-1967, which covers a previously little-seen, never fully published start of Giger’s career, leading up to “Swissmade.” I worked with the Giger estate on this and unearthed quite a bit that I never knew existed. Much of this work contains the seeds for everything to follow, but with a satirical-socio-political undercurrent. You can see the book here: https://rotlandpress.com/store-1 and Steven Heller (who wrote the foreword, covered it here: https://www.printmag.com/daily-heller/the-daily-heller-apocalypse-is-not-alien-to-h-r-giger/
Best, RS
Thanks, Ryan, it looks like this post was well-timed. I’ll add a link to Steven’s review in my weekend post. I also ought to add The Daily Heller to my RSS feed if I can (RSS is a neglected protocol these days).
Re: Giger’s influences, I always see a lot of Dalí in those early drawings, although this is more evident in the extruded lifeforms of his other works rather than the cartoons.
I wholeheartedly support this cinematic list, but make it in your own time. Talking of Letterboxd, there are many fascinating themed lists where one could spend hours discovering and researching forgotten nuggets alongside renowned films; one of my favourites is a collection of avant-garde horror films that has, surprisingly, encompassed a lot of material: https://letterboxd.com/jlalibs/list/art-horror-and-the-horrific-avant-garde/
I hope 2023 proves to be a fruitful year for your unique endeavours, Mr. Coulthart.
Thanks, Liam, I’ve started making notes towards a list but it’ll take some time to compile since I have to watch (or rewatch) a few films first.
That Letterboxd collection is a good one, even if some of the contents are (inevitably) over-familiar. The first page alone has 25 films I own on disc plus a few more I have as digital copies.
I’m looking forward to the new year, lots of interesting things on the go just now. I hope it’s a good one for you too.