The Body (1970 film) explained

The Body
Director:Roy Battersby
Producer:Tony Garnett
Narrator:Frank Finlay
Vanessa Redgrave
Based On:book by Anthony Smith
Music:Ron Geesin
Roger Waters
Cinematography:Tony Imi
Editing:Alan Cumner-Price
Studio:Kestrel Films
Distributor:Anglo-EMI (UK)
MGM (US)
Runtime:93 minutes
Country:United Kingdom
Budget:£108,000[1]
Language:English

The Body is a 1970 British scientific documentary film directed and produced by Roy Battersby. In the film, external and internal cameras are used to showcase the human body.[2]

The film's narrators, Frank Finlay and Vanessa Redgrave, provide commentary that combines the knowledge of human biologists and anatomical experts. The film's soundtrack, Music from the Body, was composed by Ron Geesin and Roger Waters, and includes songs that were made using the human body as a medium. Waters is also the narrator of one scene.

Production

The film was "suggested by" a science book by Anthony Smith.[3] The cost of optioning film rights and developing the project to take to market cost £11,000 which came from the National Film Finance Corporation. After a year, by December 1969 Battersby had a script. He showed this to the NFFC which resulted in another draft of the script. The NFFC agreed to provide half of the finance. In March 1969 Battersby met with Nat Cohen at Anglo-Amalgamated who agreed to provide the other half of finance on that day.[4] [1] Battersby shot about 300,000 feet of film of which 11,000 were used. "There was a lot of blood and film on the cutting room floor," said Garnett.[3]

Soundtrack

Tony Garnett asked John Peel recommendations for who might do the soundtrack. Peel suggested Ron Geesin.[5] He did it with Roger Waters from Pink Floyd. Geesin later said:

It was an attempt... to put a deeply socio-human documentary about the human body into cinemas, using some then-pioneering micro-camera work: coursing along the various tubes and all that. The soundtrack did what all film soundtracks are supposed to do: duet with the visual content, for, against, unison, comment. The subsequent album for EMI consisted of most of that soundtrack, in its many parts: mine as originally recorded, Roger’s re-recorded, supplemented by two original tracks, little to do with the film and all to do with Roger and me having fun, ‘Our Song’ and ‘Body Transport’.[6]

Reception

In August 1971 Nat Cohen, whose company distributed the film, said it had recouped its negative cost in the Far East alone.[7]

Home media

The film was released on DVD on 7 October 2013.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Moody, Paul. 89. EMI Films and the Limits of British Cinema. Springer. Oct 19, 2018. 9783319948034.
  2. BODY, TheMonthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 37, Iss. 432, (Jan 1, 1970): 254.
  3. https://www.newspapers.com/image/257803271/?terms=%22Putting%20a%20poet%20on%20film%22&match=1 Putting a poet on film
  4. Making itJordan, C. New Society; London Vol. 16, (Jul 2, 1970): 420.
  5. Web site: Ron Gessin interview. Floydian Slip.
  6. Web site: Breznikar. Klemen. Klemen Breznikar . January 26, 2016. Ron Geesin interview. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160924192456/http://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2016/01/ron-geesin-interview.html. September 24, 2016. December 24, 2020. It's Psychedelic Baby! Magazine.
  7. Nat Cohen. "British film finance." Times [London, England] 20 Aug. 1971: 13. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 6 Apr. 2014.