A surreal, riproaring yarn packed withevil drug lords, secret passageways, illicit opium dens and more, confessions of an opium eater is a claustrophobic fever dream one of the most bizarre, beautiful and poetic z films ever made chicago reader. Even confessions of an opium eater, a period film, deals with the social injustice of asian women abducted and sold into slavery. Confessions of an english opium eater summary supersummary. Part of bamcinematek 2016 series joe dante at the movies. Confessions of an opium eater 1962 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. To the reader etext confessions of an english opium eater to the reader. This summary of confessions of an english opium eater includes a complete plot overview spoilers included. Confessions of an opium eater later turned up on television as souls. Confessions of an opium eater dvd, 2012 for sale online.
Goodreads members who liked confessions of an englis. The bodies just move about and collide in something resembling combat, where neither the combatants nor the audience are. The movie abounds in weird imagery masks, women in bamboo cages, and an unmotivated white horse charging into a tong battle. Albert zugsmiths confessions of an opium eater is a strange, flawed, but ultimately fascinating film, a truly weird adventure story which sees vincent price attempting to free trafficked women in chinatown, smoking a healthy dose of opium along the way. Confessions of an english opium eater etext to the. Confessions of an english opiumeater american literature. Confessions of an opium eater, full movie full movie 1962. Very freely based upon the book by thomas dequincey, confessions of an opium eater is set in san francisco during the tong wars of the 1800s. Asian stereotypes and atypical zugsmith exploitation touches, the film is a classic. Confessions of an opium eater 1962 vincent price youtube. Confessions of an opium eater 1962 very surreal and. There is a devil in a drunkard, and a ghost in a poet. Confessions of an opium eater is bizarre with a capital b, a movie that got released even with its drugrelated subject matter named in the title which for a subsequent reissue was changed to souls for sale. But it happens to be one of the most bizarre, beautiful, and poetic zfilms.
In the summer of the year we have just quitted i have suffered much in bodily health from distress of mind connected with a very melancholy event. One of the weirdest and most surreal b pictures ever, full of sheer, ingenuous and possibly unintentional poppoetry. The film was reissued as souls for sale, which does a better job of capturing both the human trafficking storyline and the existential themes of mind alteration soon to be a zeitgeist topic back in 1962. Its popularity led him to publish a number of essays later on.
Confessions of an opium eater is one i wanted to see for a while. Lotus is one of a group of women kidnapped from china and brought to the united states, where they are to be traded in exchange for precious opium. It is loosely based on the 1822 autobiographical novel. The bodies just move about and collide in something resembling combat, where neither the combatants nor the audience are very clear about what is going on. Confessions of an english opiumeater project gutenberg.
Confessions of an english opiumeater 1821 is an autobiographical account written by. In the first ten minutes of confessions of an opium eater, a white slaver ship leaving asia dumps its human cargo onto a schooner to avoid the oncoming inspection boat. In retrospect, confessions of an opium eater may have been a catchy title, but its not really an accurate one. You can watch confessions of an opium eater online on videoondemand services netflix, paytv or movie theatres with original audio in english. Confessions of an opium eater 1962 very surreal and pulpy vincent price movie with a predominately asian cast. Confessions of an opium eater focuses on the slave trade of young chinese woman in turn of the century san francisco. As he hides out in chinatown he discovers the wonders of the opium trade and the.
Today, no bookshop is complete without its table of memoirs, reminiscences or confessional autobiographies, each owing something to. Confessions of an opium eater warner archive collection. Confessions of an opium eater aka souls for sale full. As if that was not recommendation enough, a moviebuff friend of mine recently alerted me to the fact that, on the films entry on joe dantes trailers from hell. Confessions of an english opiumeater thousands of full. The film is also something of a precursor to john carpenters big trouble in little china, another chinatownset phantasmagoria. Confessions of an opium eater is a film directed by albert zugsmith with vincent price, linda ho, richard loo, june kyoto lu, year. Confessions of an opium eater 1962 was produced and directed by albert zugsmith, who would later produce such films as touch of evil and written on the wind. As you may guess from the title this is a weird movie. Confessions of an opium eater 1962 rotten tomatoes.
This being a reprint of the 1821 london magazine edition. In this film, author john cooper clarke examines the first autobiographical account of drug addiction ever published. As such, the film may fail miserably as an adaptation, but it succeeds admirably as a roughandtumble, atmospheric bpicture. A surreal, riproaring yarn packed with evil drug lords, secret passageways, illicit opium dens and more, confessions of an opium eater is a claustrophobic fever dream one of the most bizarre, beautiful and poetic z films ever made chicago reader. Lights film journal feature one of the only fulllength treatments. Girls are brought to san francisco aboard a ghostly cargo ship and dumped on the shore right before a tong war erupts between the slave drivers and the womens rescuers. George wah, a crusading newspaper editor and tong leader, attempts to save the girls but fails when a rival tong appears. States, where they are to be traded in exchange for precious opium. Find books like confessions of an english opium eater from the worlds largest community of readers. Confessions of an opium eater is a 1962 american crime film produced and directed by albert zugsmith.
Vincent price doesnt quite seem to fit the role he plays but its interesting to see him anyway and he makes some of the weirdness a little easier to take. Out of the mist and fog, the ship comes upon a beach, with enemies lying in wait. Were considering expanding this synopsis into a full length study guide to deepen your comprehension of the book and why its important. Vincent price in confessions of a opium eater 1962. Confessions of an opium eater is a difficult film to explain, and as such is best experienced as the feverinduced dream that it is. Enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing confessions of an opium eater near you. The world of confessions of an opium eater 1962 bright lights.
Jerry kutner in a 1997 bright lights film journal feature one of the only fulllength treatments, which nonetheless is mostly about zugsmith. Harry potter complete 8 film collection dvd, 8disc. There isnt too much story but i mostly enjoyed this. Confessions of an english opium eater summary gradesaver. The avowed purpose of the first version of the confessions was to warn the reader of the. Overall, it is a selective autobiography of its author, with most focus on experiences that help explain his use of, addiction to, and ultimate defeat of opium. History for literatureconfessionsofanenglishopiumeater. The main ship is then blown up by the authorities anyway. Corrupt labor is the subject of the big operator, while movie star american style deals comically with the psychedelic revolution. Films media group confessions of an english opium eater. Confessions of an english opium eater is broken into two parts, each of which was published separately and each of which is broken further into subsections.
1200 310 1594 1120 379 626 695 1067 1553 685 1318 1165 1557 778 622 1367 1113 37 1105 1356 612 870 1405 929 910 538 1330 243 1524 1113 488 76 669 748 1305 885 698