All text copyright Stephen Coates 2006 - 2015

TEAR US APART


The Real Tuesday Weld have produced a new film - and again it is by their old friend and collaborator Alex De Campi.  This time it is a rather wonderful stop motion fairytale featuring an archetypal hero (the spaceman) and an archetypal heroine (the fairy girl).  There is also a strange dream sequence with a wolf and a deer.  You will have to talk to Alex if you want to understand more about this but I understand that it is her interpretation of the song "Tear Us Apart" from the "The Last Werewolf" soundtrack.

The song seems to me to be an inversion of the normal romantic lyric which blames love for the pain we feel in love affairs - "love will tear us apart", "only love can break your heart" etc - putting the blame firmly back on the lovers themselves - or the dark secret lover, the evil twin, the monster inside each that cannot resist causing trouble or destruction.

You can see the film here

This for me is the metaphorical message of the werewolf myth.

And you?

11 comments:

Unknown said...

Bravo! The new film is just as haunting and as beautiful as I had hoped it would be. And, of course, it's all those wee details (the gentlemen's pictures on the wall, the beside book, the radio tuned to 666 fm) that really draw this piece into the rest of the picture.

Pity about the poor deer, though.

I have long known that I am, in fact, my own worst enemy. There is a parallel here, I think.

clerkenwell kid said...

Yes - I felt for the deer too. That is what you get for dancing with wolves I guess..

I love the little world of this film - it is like you could go around the corner and the story carries on..

Unknown said...

Yes! I love odd little worlds like this too - so immersive that you can imagine things happening in the next room...

I am especially enchanted by the Xmas light/holes-poked-in-a-piece-of-black-card-stars in the sky. That and the handmade-ishness of the puppets - it's either something about being able to picture their component parts or perhaps it's the shadows they cast - whatever it is, it's just so compelling. Makes me feel all twisty and kind of sad inside - which is a good feeling, of course.

clerkenwell kid said...

Yes - how can dolls make you feel emotion? Make no sense but I love it!

Unknown said...

I have no idea - and I hope we never know why! Some answers ruin their questions.

paulo said...

Absolutely lovely video, and for one of my favourite songs on the album, which is a double bonus. I love the wolf silhouette howling in front of the moon bit.

clerkenwell kid said...

Thanks Paul - I really like that too - and girl writing the letters scenes

paulo said...

Looking forward to the debut of the me and mr wolf video tomorrow!
incidentally, the gig tomorrow has sold out, but I've managed to find someone new to drag along to experience the Real Tuesday Weld show. Would it be possible for me to be cheeky and ask if you have powers to add a guest list space for me? Would also have the benefit of making me look super cool! Which is always in short supply...

clerkenwell kid said...

paul mail us at info@antiquebeat.co.uk

paulo said...

Thanks, just posting here to say I've emailed - just in case the email takes a wrong turn somewhere. Ta!

Anonymous said...

The poorer , the more generous .