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Friday, June 8, 2007

The Day the Sixties Began

posted by on June 8 at 14:31 PM

I’m going over quota here, and stepping on my co-guest-sloggers’ film mandate.

The scene early in John Schlesinger’s Billy Liar, made in England in 1963, where Julie Christie steps into the world to the sound of some flutey jazz, is the moment the 1960s began. Not the Beatles, not JFK: Julie Christie.
julie-christie.jpg

I wish I could rip it and YouTube it, but I am too dumb.

Later, Christie again shows why she shone brighter than a thousand other, supposedly prettier, girls (only Rita Tushingham can match her) in this scene with the great Tom Courtenay:
julie-and-tom.jpg

LIZ: I want to marry you, Billy.

BILLY: Ah, I think I get engaged a bit too often.

LIZ: Oh, I don’t want to get engaged, I want to get married.

BILLY: Well, uh—we will one day.

LIZ: Yes. “One day.”

LIZ: Billy.

BILLY: What?

LIZ: You know—you know what you wanted me to do that night, when we were walking through the park? And I said, “another night.”

BILLY: Yes…

LIZ: Well it’s another night tonight, isn’t it?

BILLY: Are you sure?

LIZ: Yes.

BILLY: Uh…. [they kiss]

LIZ: Billy.

BILLY: Mm-hmm?

LIZ: You know there have been others, don’t you?

BILLY: Well, uh, somehow I imagined that there might have been.

LIZ: Shall I tell you about them?

BILLY: No, no—

BILLY: Well, then, go on, tell me about it.

LIZ: No, not now.

BILLY: Go on, tell me about it.

LIZ: You think that’s why I’m always going away, don’t you?

BILLY: I don’t know!

LIZ: Oh, it’s not that.

LIZ: Sometimes I want to go away. It’s not you, Billy. It’s this town, it’s the people we know. I—I don’t like knowing everybody, I don’t like becoming a part of things—d’you know what I mean?

BILLY: Yes, I do, Liz, I do—

LIZ: What I’d like to be is invisible. I’d like to be able to move around with having to explain anything.

And then the world changed. What light.

RSS icon Comments

1

Actually, it was January 1st, 1960.

Posted by Sean | June 8, 2007 2:42 PM
2

And that's 41, more than yesterday's Slog total, and it's not even three o'clock yet.

Posted by Fnarf | June 8, 2007 2:43 PM
3

Great movie. I like it almost as mush as I like The Loved One.

Posted by elswinger | June 8, 2007 2:44 PM
4

I meant "much."

fuck, fuck, fuck!

Posted by elswinger | June 8, 2007 2:47 PM
5

Screw the quota! God only knows if I'll ever get to do this again, so I'm making the most of it.

Posted by Gitai | June 8, 2007 2:48 PM
6

Quota? word count or post count? Either way, ya'll got the keys to the kingdom, so why the fuck not? What did the usual staffers think would happen would happen when they let the kids into the candy shop?

Posted by phenics | June 8, 2007 2:57 PM
7

Julie Christie needs to be talked about more often. LOUDLY.

Posted by phenics | June 8, 2007 2:59 PM
8

I don't think it was JFK, the Beatles, or the Pepper inspired "God Only Knows",... btw Sean, I think Fnarf is looking outside the box for a cultural beginning, your square humor is appreciated though, sort of. Hmmmmmm....

Well.... that screenplay is as good as any I can think of.
Another score for the Narf!

Posted by Garrett | June 8, 2007 3:08 PM
9

OMFG, I wasn't even born then.

Posted by Will in Seattle | June 8, 2007 3:15 PM
10

That woman is luminous. No one can match her. Period.

Posted by keshmeshi | June 8, 2007 3:22 PM
11

41? Your point? More than half of these posts have sucked horse cock. Isn't ironic that the ones that haven't are Mudede based?

Posted by Mr. Poe | June 8, 2007 3:28 PM
12

*it

Posted by Mr. Poe | June 8, 2007 3:28 PM
13

In a recent article about her new movie, I think in the NYT, she said that she was "deeply shallow" throughout most of the 60s - all she thought about was boys and parties. I thought that was kind of interesting. Anyway, I give credit to anyone who abandons, nearly, the Hollywood industry.

Posted by Jude Fawley | June 8, 2007 3:29 PM
14

Mr. Poe,

Considering how much you post I am surprised you weren't asked to be a guest Slogger today.

Posted by elswinger | June 8, 2007 3:35 PM
15

Thank god "Mr. Poe" hasn't been asked to be a guest Slogger...total a-hole. Mr. Poe...do we really need a link to your dumbass Myspace page? Dork.

Posted by Hell no, no Mr. Poe. | June 8, 2007 3:45 PM
16

Of course! That way you can look at the face that wants nothing more than to see you die!

@14

I'm actually new to Slog. I do not deserve to be part of Freaky Friday, and after today, I don't think I would want to be. My co-worker Ms. Dutton told me to come here to get my Adrian fix ever since Dan (obviously) booted him from the paper.

I'm onto you, Savage!

Posted by Mr. Poe | June 8, 2007 4:04 PM
17

Mr. Poe - pillow?

Posted by Lloyd Clydesdale | June 8, 2007 4:16 PM
18

No, Mr. Poe works for the Weekly.

Posted by Will in Seattle | June 8, 2007 5:22 PM
19

MSN I NIIPET
MSN

Posted by Bill | June 12, 2007 3:22 PM
20

MSN I NIIPET
MSN

Posted by Bill | June 12, 2007 3:22 PM
21

MSN I NIIPET
MSN

Posted by Bill | June 12, 2007 3:22 PM

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