Shoot 1971

Shoot

Performance artist Chris Burden is shot in the arm by an assistant. November 19, 1971, Santa Ana, CA.

“At 7:45 p.m. I was shot in the left arm by a friend. The bullet was a copper jacket .22 long rifle. My friend was standing about fifteen feet from me.”

Fists of Fury (aka The Big Boss) - Bruce Lee kicks some ass,1971

Fantastic karate & kung-fu action film from the great Bruce Lee. Lee plays a young man who leaves his home town, promising his mother that he will no longer get into fights. We know that won't last long, and by the end of the movie he has maimed and killed many foes (all villains who had it coming of course). The sound effects are wonderfully over-the-top. The dubbed version (which I watched) adds to the insanity. Not as great as Enter the Dragon, but an excellent precursor to that masterpiece.

When the shirt comes off you know it's about to get serious.

       

The World Inside by Robert Silverberg (1971) - vertical living in 2381

1971 Doubleday, artwork by James Starrett

1972 paperback edition, artwork uncredited

Robert Silverberg's The World Inside, set in 2381. I thought I had read this one before, but it was completely unfamiliar, so it was a new one for me (unless my memory has gotten really bad). The world's population stands at 75 billion and counting. Almost everyone is living in giant skyscrapers called urbmons (short for urban monads). The problem of overpopulation has been solved by vertical living, leaving a lot more room on the planet for the agriculture which is needed to feed the ever growing populace. In fact procreation is vigorously encouraged and deemed "blessworthy" by society as a whole. It's all very efficient and everybody gets along quite well in these crowded towers, except for the occasional "flippo" who is unceremoniously sent down the chute to feed the generators. Everything is recycled of course.

The author does an excellent job of describing the culture and environment, including class hierarchy and sexual mores (he spends a lot of time on sexual mores), told through several scenes which are more or less a series of linked short stories. Towards the end the focus turns to characters who are unhappy and don't fit well into the urbmon scheme, characters for whom we would naturally feel more sympathy. The book is always interesting and moves along at a quick pace. An altogether excellent work of speculative fiction from the early 1970s.

The Andromeda Strain (1971) - alien microorganism meets minimalist design

   Classic science fiction thriller directed by Robert Wise and based on the novel by Michael Crichton (which I've not read). The first time I saw this I found it quite frightening and tension filled. I've seen it a few times since the 1970s (once every 10 years or so) and it gets a little less frightening each time. There are still some rather chilling moments though. My favorite scene is when they are scanning the satellite for the source of the contamination. I still find it wonderfully spooky, but in a nice subtle way.

   Starring Arthur Hill, David Wayne, James Olson and Kate Reid, who are all fine.  It's a slow moving film, with lots of detail concerning the underground facility. What I was particularly drawn to this most recent of viewings was the design of the facility. The sets are really nice and use a minimum of bells and whistles. In fact it's downright spare, at times reminding me of minimalist art.

Levels are color coded.

On the way to be decontaminated. Compare the minimal design to that below.

Installation by minimalist artist John McCracken

   Overall a cool looking movie with some chilling scenes, decent acting, and excellent direction and set design. I'll probably watch it again in another 10 years. Good stuff.