Some Call It Loving (1973)

"Some Call it Loving" is hard to describe but I'll try. It's a bit like an art film (such as something by Bergman or Fellini) combined with a porno film with little porn...along with an LSD trip. The results are bizarre, unique and incredibly confusing. What does all this mean?!The film begins with Robert (Zalman King...a Marjoe Gortner lookalike) seeing a strange carnival attraction. It seems that a pretty young woman has been sleeping for 8 years and audience members can pay to come up and kiss her...and try to awaken her. Soon you realize that the man who 'owns her' is more than willing to allow guys to pay to do far more...and he expects that is what Robert wants when he comes to see her later. However, he's obsessed with her in a strange, non-sexual way and he buys the girl from him! Soon, after bringing her home, she awakens and he is smitten by her and vice-versa...though for a lot of the film their relationship is non-sexual. Instead, Robert walks around almost as if in a catatonic state himself...watching all sorts of weirdos. Two weirdos are his 'girlfriends' though they are clearly lesbians and kinky ones at that. Another is his junkie friend (overplayed badly by Richard Pryor). None of these people or vignettes make ANY sense and after a while you start to realize that everything and the disconnectedness of it all is highly reminiscent of a dream- -as if it's not the girl who is asleep but the audience...or at least they are watching someone's dream. Surreal beyond belief and late in the film there are finally some nude scenes (but they are amazingly non- sexy). The entire concoction is nonsensical and bizarre...so much so that it has 'cult film' written all over it but it's also not something the average viewer would care about in the least. Additionally, its bizarro religious symbolism is bound to offend many, many viewers. My advice is that if you want to watch porn, find a better and sexier film. If you want an art film, try "The Seventh Seal" or "8 1/2" as they are much more clever and artsy. Or, if you want a film that utterly confuses you, by all means try "Some Call it Loving"...but I wasn't a fan by the time the film ended.

Truly an awful movie in every sense of the word. The story had no meaning beyond some high school type vapid comments. And the best one word description would be pretentious. In fact they even quoted Hamlet's Polonius but, in the incorrect context. But I can forgive all of that. I have a fondness for weird, experimental films. But, the one thing I can't forgive is boredom. The characters move at the speed of a glacier. They walk to one room then back for no reason. "Just get bloody on with it" I hollered at the screen. Boring boring boring. And don't figure you can throw in one line from my beloved Hamlet and figure that makes you 'artistic'!Skip this slow placed clunker and go watch eraserhead .

An obscure oddity, chastised and forgotten in its time. A different take on the Sleeping Beauty story which is complimented with interestingly composed shots, surreal characters, narrative peculiarities and great music. It's a warm piece of Americana that invokes weird nuns, freak carnivals and a rambling Richard Pryor. Basically all the stuff that makes America great. Despite the strange elements inherent in the movie, it still comes off as artfully dramatic. Love cannot be forced and no one is perfect for one another, the film explores how futile it is to make this happen when a man has the perfect opportunity to mold a sleeping beauty into his ultimate love. It is somewhat a shame that the film hasn't found an audience outside of Rosenbaum's essential 1000 and some Cinemageddon weirdos as it could easily slot itself into the fanbase cult of Harmony Korine and beyond. Watch it at 3am and let it mesmerize and sedate you.

It has been more than a quarter century since I saw this movie. it is not a good movie. It is, however, one of the more bizarre films you will ever see. It has stayed in my memory all these years while other clunkers are gone. Richard Pryor's turn as a wino-philosopher and Zalman King as a jazz musician-prince defy description. And its has a nuns dancing scene with Carol White. Because of the cast and treatment, this truly may be a one of a kind experience.