Metamatic Forums John Foxx John Foxx John Foxx remembers Antonioni

Following the death of Michelangelo Antonioni in August, John Foxx was interviewed by film critic Glenn Kenny of Premiere.com for his recollections of working with one of Italy's most celebrated directors.
You can read his full reply here:

http://glennkenny.premiere.com/blog/2007/08/john-foxx-remem.html

Another little gem for the archive

Thanks Birdsong for posting the link. Thoroughly enjoyed reading this article. Certainly one for the archive.

Peter

Cheers for that Martin,

A very interesting read.

Brian

A fascinating interview. I wonder if anyone knows if John's soundtrack music from "Identification Of A Woman" still exists and if so, perhaps it could finally be released as part of the "The Garden" reissue, as the music dates from that period?

(Yes I know I asked this before on a different thread, but that went off on a tangent and I never got an answer....)

that's indeed an interesting read ! :-)

thanx a lot for the link , martin ! :-)

What a brilliant interview!

Many thanks Martin!

Great find yet again.

Its amazing how many other side projects John has done over the time.

If you stand well back it looks two tone grey with just Ultravox! and Solo shades visible. Stand much closer, and its a career of multicolors.

It is interesting that isn't it? He really is "The Hidden Man".
These things just get done and he quietly gets on with it.
Makes you wonder what else is out there.

Posting here is very rewarding. Everyone responds so positively.

metamatic.com really is the definitive site all things Foxx

Martin: Thanks for the link.


K: wonderful phrasing

Great stuff Martin!

The one thing I've been on the look out for years is the piano version of Eurpoe After The Rain.
Hopefully one day it'll turn up.

Peter

Thank you, Martin!
Nice Interview - I enjoyed the reading.


Hope too, the Piano version of E.A.T.R. will be released on CD one day...

Picking up an old thread, I finally managed to see this film over the weekend.
John Foxx is duly credited with 'Musiche Originali' in the opening titles. JF's original score is however fairly sparse, each 'piece' lasting just a few seconds. There is an instrumental version of EATR, although again it lasts 20-25 secs at the most.
There are also other snatches of songs of the time most notably - and to my great surprise - OMD's 'Stanlow' and 'Souvenir'. Japan's 'Sons of Pioneers' is used to great effect, and I also spotted XTC's 'Ten Feet Tall'. There are also some instrumental guitar pieces by a famous artist who has also worked with JF but whose name completely escapes me. (RadioBeach I'm sure you can help me...)
They are all Virgin artists at the time BTW and in fact the closing titles say that the soundtrack is available on Virgin records, but I'm not sure if that's true.
The film is taxing European pseudo.intellectual stuff, not to be watched after a heavy meal on a comfy sofa, and certainly not "for the kids". I wanted to sit through it a second time to 'spot the JF contributions' but even in that respect it would've required a massive effort, even to this hardened Italo/Euro-movie "buff".

That's quite interesting, thanks for that.

I think John is much more suited for film music today. So many of his later songs have a more cinematic feel and his instrumental work is simply outstanding and would work perfectly given the right film.

Yes perhaps that's right now, but I felt his efforts in the above (circa 1982?) were rather 'tame' although I think John mentioned that his original score was very much 'trimmed down'. Don't expect Vangelis per 'Blade Runner' or anything like that.
Yes it would be nice if he was given another chance.

Hi there.
I've been searching high and low for this soundtrack but I was confirmed by the movie company that it never existed as a published recording in any form, so I think we can get over that. I'd love to be proved wrong, of course ;-)

A very detailed list of songs/artists fetuared in the soundtrack can be found here . Does any name ring a bell?

Ciao,
Luca

Thanks Luca

What is 'interesting' (??) is the other films that feature John Foxx among the musical contributors:-

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1809189582

Grazie Luca. Steve Hillage was the one I couldn't think of.

Seen the film? What did you make of it????

Funny indeed! The only one that sounded remotely possible was JF producing Boy George for "Hiding Out", but it turned out to be a guy named Paul Fox.
Does that mean you can't trust everything you read on web page? My certainties are shattered...

Luca

I saw the film several years ago and I was disappointed. I regard some early works by Antonioni as absolute masterpieces, but this unfortunately is not one of them. Although it explores his usual subjects (mainly the difficulties or lack of communication between people) I can't honestly recommend it, even to a Foxxfan.

Maybe you (MemberD) might enjoy "Al di là delle nuvole - Beyond The Clouds", directed by Antonioni together with Wim Wenders. A part of it is shot in Ferrara...

Ciao,
Luca

Is that the film with John Malkovitch and Sophie Marceau?

Yep. Let's not forget Fanny Ardant and Marcello Mastroianni.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114086/

Yes saw that one some years ago . .shot in Ferrara with the obligatory fog no doubt! That's the one Alex. The wonderful Ines Sastre also features .. .whatever happened to her ?!?! ooops slightly OT :rolleyes:

I saw Beyond the Clouds on TV once and I remember enjoying it. Something about it stuck in my mind. Having said that, I can hardly remember it now, though I liked the title a lot, and ended up borrowing it for one of my songs!

In the past I had a video of this film. All I'll say is I was hugely disappointed. I gave it to a forum member saying "Please don't post this back".

Peter

Hey Alex, you aren't alone in borrowing film titles for songs, just ask John ;-)
This is getting way OT, and knowing you're a Numan fan I think I won't get slapped if I post this:
Madame Sadowsky - Gary Numan - Cars - Live

Ciao,
Luca

BTW sorry for the shameless self-promotion

..ghosts from long ago ..

I tried this link but it's now dead .. does anyone have a transcript/copy of this interview or webpage?

There's an extract from the piece here that might be useful :

http://mubi.com/notebook/posts/monday-mo...-antonioni-1982

Cheers Martin;

there was an exhibition on Antonioni and his work in my adopted home town, and Antonioni's birth-town this Spring although sadly I failed to attend. It was apparently a kind of multimedia thing, although I doubt there would've been any Foxxy music playing.

You can watch the full film here:

http://viooz.co/movies/18994-identification-of-a-woman-identificazione-di-una-donna-1982.html

molto bene! excellent quality

I had seen it before and probably fell asleep after about 20 mins .. It's hard going, European stuff, and the actings a bit stiff by Brit standards. It's probably only the 'spot the early 80s song clip' in the soundtrack that keeps the attention up.
eg. Stanlow about 5 mins in.

and some then-new Foxxy incidental stuff at about 5.28??