Altered States (1980)

Altered States (1980), directed by Ken Russell.

Let me just give you the quick summary: Love is the answer.

You may think this is about sensory deprivation experiments and psych-scientists getting high on their own supply of Hinchi Indian mushroom mix, exploring altered states of consciousness leading to dramatic physical transformations and even ruptures in dimensional boundaries. (You need really powerful drugs for that).

Those are just plot incidentals. In obsessed William Hurt's drug-facilitated quest for ultimate truth, the real story is his return from that far out orbit, rediscovering hearth and home, simple humanity and the love of a good woman. As his wife told him in the beginning:

Blair Brown as Cosmic Earth Mother is there is save him, comforting arms always open. Then he saves her. And they were naked and unashamed.

I have always loved this film. It's a bold and confident vision, expressed without hesitation or apology. Believe it or not it is one of Ken Russell's more straightforward narratives, as those who remember Lisztomania (1975) will confirm, often in vivid terms.

Yes, it's hard to tell if it has a coherent mythology supporting the wild hallucinogenic visions and physical transformations. That's ok, make of it what you will.

Yes, the language is high-flown, but I knew people who talked like that, or tried to. The drunken restaurant patter is just perfect and the expressions of the "normal" observers just priceless.

I wish Russell and the others had done a commentary track. Some of the imagery flies by too quickly to see clearly and I'd like to hear their interpretations.

Nudity and passion scenes but no serious violence or gore, apart from some animal carcasses. Much intimidating imagery.

Fine score, both poignant and lyrical in the human scenes, kinetic and scary in the psychedelica.

Notes:

• I knew people who took stuff like this very seriously, for example the students of Timothy Leary's Eight-circuit model of consciousness. They thought all cosmic truth and future evolution could be found in the DNA (or actual atoms?) and this was accessible with the right disciplines and drugs. What were they actually after? I don't know. It did not work out well for the people I knew.

• We always have suspicions about psych scientists: ministering angels or secret head cases? Is Eddy doing science or is that just a cover for his personal exaltation? In his case, is there a difference?

• The basement lab hallways have that influential Alien (1979) industrial design and lighting. This was made just the next year; was there time for the crew to see the earlier film?

• I like how she has his dream of running from the dogs.

• I like her house at the end after the lab catastrophe, the stained glass alcoves suggesting the little organic capsules of life from the visions.

• I like her physicality during the catastrophe, the way she flails against the door.

• The Primal Man moves like a dancer, which damages the illusion.

• The prof is sleeping with a student and she still calls him "Dr Jessup" when he gets out of bed.

• I showed this to a young woman (a snotty art student) years ago and she said "That looks so 80s." It wasn't a complement. She might have meant the nudity.

It's hard to know what to compare this to; there's nothing quite like it. I see some describe it as "body horror", so we might pull in David Cronenberg. But this is a warmer and more fun film than something like Videodrome (1983), a good movie in its own way.

Ken Russell never did anything else similar. I remember hearing that he had both pre- and post-acid work, but googling I'm not finding any commentary on that, so maybe it was just a story. There are several biographies and I should get one.

The Blu-ray is a huge upgrade from the early dismal DVD and I am happy to have it. The colors are fine and the detail often very good. That said, it does have a more-or-less processed look and appears grainless. Fabric detail on the dark jackets is sometimes crushed.