vardathemessage | Cinematic Details

Happy New Year's, Darlings! I hope you all partied like it was 1969.

script:
In the foreground, Brian is revealed watching through the glass, his back to camera. When Curt doesn’t come in on the next verse, Brian twitches angrily.

BRIAN
Shit!

DEVINE
Cut it.

MIXER
Should I stop it?

Brian turns around, facing Devine and the Mixer who sits behind him at the board.

Curt continues singing.

Brian watches, biting his thumb.

He’s gonna hit the bridge a half-verse early.

DEVINE
Now you’re simply wasting tape.

BRIAN
Alright. Cut it.

The music stops.

Well, quite honestly darlings, your faithful reporter is stumped by this scene. We just quoted Ron Asheton about the character of Curt being unable to sing because he was under the influence, (I believe fucked up was the technical term), but that's just Ron's interpretation and it may have more to do with something Todd explained to him in pre-production about the way he was going to use the song than anything in the final film. But under scrutiny the logic of it crumbles. The scene starts with Curt already singing and he continues to sing and yet he supposedly doesn’t come in on the next verse, he missed his cue and he's gonna hit the bridge a half-verse early. Brian and Jerry sigh in exasperation as Curt continues singing, as well, so perhaps you don't have to be strung out on smack to miss that damned elusive cue. Plus, it would seem that he'll hit the bridge a half verse late if he missed his cue.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I've put some thought into this myself. Although I'm not sure if it's at all what Haynes intended, when I watch this scene I consider that everyone in that studio, not just Curt, is fucked up (to use the technical term! ;) ) on something. And different drugs affect one's perspective differently; someone on quaaludes or smack is NOT going to hear/see/feel the same way as someone on coke or speed. The sensations will be different and they won't agree on what's actually happening. My guess is that there are two different highs going on on either side of the studio glass, and Curt isn't dosing on the production team's stash.

Cocaine looms large as a force for Brian to reckon with later in the movie, and we already know that Curt has a weakness for heroin. These two drugs have opposite affects on the body; to greatly simplify, coke's an upper and smack is a downer. Both drugs affect the nervous system & the brain, thereby affecting perspective and sensation. If – as I suspect – Brian is on coke during this scene, he will be more susceptible to Jerry's manipulative needling & snide remarks and more likely to act on them impulsively without thinking. Brian also won't be on Curt's "wavelength", and thereby not picking up on his musical nuances (which is crucial for a producer/musician relationship so as not to "waste tape"). Brian and Jerry are so caught up in sorting out their public-face pecking order, they're not even listening to Curt.

(Note that, as the manager, one of Jerry's manifold responsibilities is to ensure that the "proper creative atmosphere" is provided...in other words, part of his job is to keep the drugs free-flowing. Whatever Brian and Curt are snorting, shooting, licking or smoking, it's almost 100% likely that Jerry procured it for them. So his machinations may run deeper than just bitchy comments. If he feels Curt is a threat to his control of Brian, and he wants Curt out, he can ensure that Curt & Brian don't see eye-to eye by various means, only one of which can be the fostering of completely different drug habits for each artist.)

Just my 2¢, gleaned from past music industry experiences. Like I said, that may not be Haynes' take on it at all.

(deleted comment)

I agree too. This scene on the DVD is called "Lost in the Lie" but "When Egos Collide" might be more apt.

Wow, that's a brilliant argument! According to that list of headlines Arthur reads about Brian, he was busted for coke in 1973 and the recording sessions are taking place in 1974. So he probably was still doing coke during the recording sessions but certainly not as deeply as he is shown later in the film. Brian's got a (huge yet) fragile ego to begin with and mixed with the paranoia we all know that cocaine is famous for, I agree that he is more aware of Jerry (and Trevor and even Eton) than Curt. I happened to watch a doc on the making of Who's Next over the weekend and in one interview segment Pete Townsend was talking about the band coming to New York to record at the Record Plant. He said that it didn't work out because Kit Lambert was starting to get into smack. It was so telling that Pete was so dismissive and derisive in his attitude toward heroin. He said, referring to the time in question, maybe 1970, that although he drank a lot, he hadn't done drugs since 1967 but he'd never done narcotics! I had to think about what that meant, since it seems that drugs is drugs but apparently in the hierarchy of drugs, even to this pill popping ex-Mod, heroin was somehow unseemly. Brian, being an ex-Mod too, probably sees coke as a method to be more productive, it's almost a work-ethic drug, compared with the lazy slackers that use heroin. Cintra Wilson makes some interesting comparisons between heroin and cocaine addicts here.

Cinematic Details - Gaffes?

It's the drugs, maaaaannn...

Re: It's the drugs, maaaaannn...

Re: It's the drugs, maaaaannn...