Forty years after his optical process enhanced Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, Eugene Shuftan suffered the indignity of being fired from this trippy reverie by director Conrad Rooks.
His replacement, Robert Frank, managed to produce some suitably hallucinatory cold turkey effects. Alas, nothing could save this autobiographical ramble, in which Rooks offers up blurred memories and confused visions of reality to the Parisian doctor (Jean-Louis Barrault) assigned to release him from his heroin addiction.
With Allen Ginsberg and William S Burroughs adding some Beat cred and a score by Ravi Shankar, this is very much a product of its time.
Russel Harwick
Conrad Rooks
Doctor Benoit
Jean-Louis Barrault
Opium Jones
William S Burroughs
Messiah
Allen Ginsberg
Sun god
Ravi Shankar
Water woman
Paula Pritchett
Peyote eater
Ornette Coleman
The Guru
Swami Satchidananda
The Prophet
Moondog
Director
Conrad Rooks