16th April 2007.

What a weekend! I went from the all-time King of Cult Cinema to the current Queen of Hollywood in the space of two days. First up on my starry agenda was hosting the BFI Southbank on stage interview with Alejandro Jodorowsky to celebrate the Tartan DVD arrival of his avant-garde exploitation trio Fando y Lis, El Topo and The Holy Mountain. It hadn’t been easy getting him to appear. But when he finally took his place in front of the adoring audience he did what he does best – outrage, entertain and provide much food for provocative thought. Having been in the position before of essentially being his straight man (there’s something you don’t often hear!!) I mostly just listened along with the audience as he talked about re-mastering the movies and his latest Psychomagic therapy interests. I did have questions all worked out knowing I would probably be wasting my time. And, true to form, Jodo totally ignored them all, talked about what he wanted to and kept everyone enthralled. I plugged the gaps whenever he stopped ranting which was no easy task. Talk about being completely drained afterwards! He even moon-walked on stage as he outlined what mime moves he had created for Marcel Marceau in the days before El Topo invented the Midnight Movie. I didn’t let him give me a Tarot reading though as he seemed willing to do for most people. He did that years ago and I’m still reeling from how scarily well he nailed my character. Our paths have crossed numerous times over the decades since I first met him on Santa Sangre. It is always a pleasure and I hope he does indeed live to his desired age of 150 so I can enter his eccentric universe again in the future. Very few people have impressed me in the way Jodo has and for everyone at the NFT that night – Friday the 13th so I should have known better – I think it became very clear why that would indeed b the case.

And so to Sunday morning at De Lane Lea Studios in Soho’s Dean Street where I moderated the DVD commentary on Tinto Brass’ still controversial art-sex movie Caligula. That was the only time Dame Helen Mirren, this year’s Oscar winner for her role in The Queen, could record the track before jetting off to New York to star in Jon Turteltaub’s sequel National Treasure: Book of Secrets. I’d interviewed her before, most recently on Inkheart, and have always found her a delight. My admiration for her has now quadrupled after her almost total recall on everything to do with the maligned Bob Guccione produced Italian epic that became a cause celebre when he inter-cut hardcore porn into the extended running time four years after it was made in 1976.

The version we commented on was the Film 4 cut overseen by Mark Kermode that basically removed all the re-shot Penthouse Pet footage hewing it closer to fired Brass’ original vision. Mirren didn’t want to see any of the more outrageous inserts anyway and, at one point, covered her eyes during the head-severing torture machine scene in the gladiatorial arena. She had some tremendous anecdotes about co-stars Malcolm McDowell, Peter O’Toole and John Gielgud, writer Gore Vidal and Guccione and exploded many of the rumours that have since accumulated over the years. We were joined by writer James Chaffin whose book about the un-making of the movie is to be published in October, around the same time this Image double disc set will be released.

Quite why Mirren was prepared to revisit such a scandalous time in her early career considering her pole position at the moment became crystal clear. She remarked that she adores Brass, still keeps in touch with him and that her four month salary from the movie meant she could buy her first London house giving her much needed financial security when she needed it most. Mirren really stepped up to the mark on this one making it the most enjoyable commentary experiences I’ve had. 136 minutes is a long time to keep talking about any film but her wall-to-wall revelations made our session pass like lightning. Mirren is one classy lady and one who isn’t afraid to tell it like it is either. Wonderful stuff.

Overseen by veteran DVD extras producer Carl Daft who I’ve worked with many time before in the past – my Argento commentaries and the up-coming Splat Pack documentary – I’m doing another with him later this month. It’s with director Tony Maylam on that most contentious of Video Nasties, The Burning. Let’s hope he measures up to the standard now set by the incomparable Helen Mirren.

Until next time...