Salvation Magazine Issue 1 - Magazine - Page 4
Future Present
Finding Salvation
in Redemption
As our thirtieth anniversary approaches we give some thought to what has been
and what is, hopefully, to come in the future...
Amazingly to me, Salvation Films and the
Redemption label in one form or another
has been around and trading since 1993
which means that next year, 2023, is our
thirtieth anniversary and like all events
that are based on time or rather the passing of time this has brought about some
moments of reflection on what has happened over the years and musings on the
future. For those of you unfamiliar with
Redemption’s chequered history it began,
or rather emerged organically, following the banning of my short film Visions
of Ecstasy by the BBFC (British Board of
Film Classification) in 1989. This coincided with a recession in the UK which meant
that a lot of my work on magazine design,
which is what I used to do, dried up as
publishers cut back on costs or closed titles. Separately, my efforts to raise money
to make another film were stymied by the
fact that my last work had been banned
which is great for publicity but not so good
for making money.
was all that I could afford, and set about cre- us to continue releasing films like Jess Franco’s
ating a unique film label.
Succubus, Dario Argento’s Deep Red, Amando de Ossorio’s Tombs of the Blind Dead,
There was literally no spare money for any- numerous Giallo films including What Have
thing and if these five films failed to sell then You Done to Solange? and The Fifth Cord,
that was it, Redemption would be kaput. So several Nunsploitation films and of course
the magazine, which I had titled The Redeem- the films of Jean Rollin which we would evenBy 1992 I decided that if I couldn’t make my er, and the design of the sleeves was crucial tually acquire the ownership too.
own films, I could at least release the films I as I had no funds for advertising and thereliked and from that moment on what would fore had to design sleeves that would not only We followed up the success of Redemption by
become Redemption slowly began to take make the Redemption label standout on the launching a sister label, Jezebel, in 1994. Speshape. With very little money, I initially shelf but also encourage retailers to rack the cialising in sexploitation films. We launched
launched Redemption with a horror-themed film titles together on the shelf thereby creat- with titles like Vilgot Sjöman’s I am Curious
magazine aimed at the Horror fanzine mar- ing mini Redemption sections and hopefully, (Yellow) and Pete Walker’s seriously underket to generate interest in and around Re- getting the films noticed.
rated tale of the big bad city, Cool it Carol.
demption. I then licensed five films, Mask
The Jezebel label was followed in 1996 by
of Satan, Lisa and the Devil, ’Tis Pity She’s In the end the sleeves worked and we sold Purgatory, a label dedicated to high-end adult
a Whore, Killer Nun and Salon Kitty, which enough copies of those initial titles to enable material, and Sacrament in 2004, which was
Anarchy, Acid, Ravers
and Burnt Punks
As relics of our recent past becomes cultural icons or enshrined artefacts to be worshipped or
trampled depending on contemporary tastes so more books and documentaries are appearing. Is this an older generation reimagining its youth or signs that the present is so devoid of
excitement that we need the past more than ever. Dave Edmond looks back and sees the future.
Wake Up Punk
Documentary
83 minutes 2022
Directed by Nigel Askew
I really wanted to like this film. Vivienne
Westwood and Malcolm McLaren had a huge
influence on my life, on fashion, music, and
culture in general. They spawned a generation of people imbibed with a do it yourself
sense of self belief, and they achieved that in
a grim period of strikes, social and political
unrest, and cultural malaise. I want to make
that point, maybe it gives balance
To be honest I didn’t really understand the
film. Its central theme, I think, is the commodification of punk rock and the “statement” of burning an alleged five million
pounds worth of Westwood/McLaren clothing from the iconic “Seditionaries” collection
2/Salvation
(the clothes and t-shirt images worn by the
Sex Pistols and most original punks ..... Destroy Swastika, Naked Cowboys, etc). Call me
simplistic or a person who doesn’t get art but
I’m with the journalist who, in the film, poses
the question to Vivienne’s son Joe Corré “why
not sell them for £5million pounds and give
the money to charity”. Of course the segments
of the film that discuss the value - if sold - of
the clothes is hugely open to question... ie values are ascribed that are basically about 100
times more than prices ever so far achieved
at auction. So. The central theme. Joe Corré
is gonna burn £5 million pounds worth of
Vivienne (and Malcolm McLaren’s) clothing
originals as a protest against punk becoming
a commercialised pastiche. I couldn’t help
feeling that Joe wants to be like Malcolm, manipulating the press, sparking controversy, an
agent provocateur?
Around the main theme there’s a reality tv
sort of examination of the family relationship
past and present between Westwood and her
two sons Joe Corré and Ben Westwood, and
the now dead Malcolm McLaren. To me it
was much like a home movie, possibly self
indulgent with a past viewed through any
number of filters, and without the input of
a central character. There’s also some scenes
with a group of young kids, seemingly in
Dickensian times, vaguely analysing world
problems (and some cut away scenes of kids
protesting climate change) which seemed to
hark back to McLaren’s production Ghosts
of Oxford Street and the Seditionaries “Oliver Twist” t-shirt print. Various characters
from the 1970’s punk period up to current
times offer words of wisdom and opinions,
and some of them are quite funny, but overall , it wasn’t engaging. Malcolm McLaren
had an innate ability to spin a good yarn
and to inspire people. With Vivienne he
dressed a generation of kids in a wonderful anarchic and dangerous set of clothes
and turned them into their own bigger than
life characters. Did he in fact start the commercialisation? Who cares, it doesn’t matter. To the people who dressed up, messed
up, started bands, fanzines, and carried the
punk aesthetic into their lives and work in
myriad ways, and spawned movements like
Rock Against Racism, it was a catalyst, and
it was life affirming, and it stays with you .....
find some seemingly boring 60 year old former punk, stick on the Pistols God Save The
Queen, scratch beneath the surface and that
angry 19 year old kid is usually still there;
and that is the real legacy and it’s what the
film really, really, misses. All culture gets
watered down. All directional clothing gets
co-opted into the mainstream in some form.
Everyone’s favourite record ends up in an
ad, but it doesn’t change a thing, it can never take away the magic of the time you first
heard that track, spent your pocket money
on it, and played it to death.
Re reading this review it’s disjointed, but
then so was the film. Punk was 40+ years ago,
it’s lost its potency. Find new ways, utilise new
technologies, write new anthems, design new
costumes to wear to change the world Malcolm McLaren (probably nicked from the Situationists and the Paris rioters of 1968) ......
“Believe in the ruins” “You have to destroy to
create, you know that yourselves”
