More - mehr - immer mehr

Has there ever been an Angel of Death like MIMSY FARMER in Barbet Schroeder's 1960s heroin opus? Sort of Jean Seberg with a hypodermic. Pink Floyd score. Despite some ultimately insignificant weaknesses, a classic, shamelessly ripped off by Erich Segal/Noel Black for their inept JENNIFER ON MY MIND (1971), although Tippy Walker, playing a similar character, is herself very junkie-appealing in the latter mess. MORE, though, is terrific, a great 60s drug movie and, simply, an important document of its time. Very much a cult film so join the cult.

No American movie then, as far as I can remember, charts the same territory. MIMSY's an astonishing archetype, elevating this into mythic realms. Not for the faint-hearted. Great sex scenes too.

I actually have the honor of having this movie on tape. This movie is based on a true story, which makes it even better, it started off with the director of this movie looking for his friend, and finding out he is dead, and the whole movie is based on the interviews they had with the people who met her friend. It's a great movie, and pink floyd are truly at their best, that is also my fave pink floyd tape. I suggest you watch this low-key deep movie

'More' is a film legendary amongst Floyd collectors, and is well worth the time spent searching, since it features some of the bands' most spontaneous and eclectic work.

I was lucky enough to find some evidently battered and old publicity postcards for the film at a local art centre. The copy on the card makes for good reading if you enjoy the film, or are interested in it's history: _____________________________________________________________

"of beauty, sex and drugs: more"

"'More' probably contains more footage of naked bodies than any other film that has made it past Plymouth Rock. It's strong stuff. A powerful movie about drugs. Mimsy Farmer as Estelle, is one of the real baddies of all time, a totally amoral person who shoots heroin (even under her tongue!), cavorts in the nude, lies, steals, makes love to girls, and destroys every man who falls in love with her." - The Sunday New York Times.

"'More' is tough, candid stuff, clearly among the good ones." - National Observer.

"A very beautiful, very romantic movie." - The New York Times.

The card features a wonderful black and white picture of Estelle and Stefan in characteristically joyous mood celebrating their (perhaps new-found and ill-fated) freedom, and classifies the film as "'X' Persons Under 17 Not Admitted".

Interestingly the film saw general video release in France with a '12' certificate.

My copy, available via amazon.com, and released by Janus Films and Home Vision Cinema, does not state a certificate, though the drug use would probably warrant an '18' certificate if release were attempted in the UK.

Circa 2000, the film is broadcast on monthly rotation by Film Four, a UK subscription film channel.

Kind of a low-key "Days of wine and roses," this is hardly a standard 1960's drug film. Director Schroeder (whom one can deduce is represented by Charlie the good-natured street hustler) states initially it's about a friend who died of drug overdose, so we know it's going to be a story of psychic corruption rather than an exploration of the ideals of Timothy Leary. It might seem that Schroeder is really glamorizing drugs simply by example, as well as by showing the sex life of the characters, and by employing a real psychedelic band for the soundtrack. However, Schroeder doesn't show subjective scenes of drug use; the characters trip out in their own world, usually detached from another, and the audience watches like the only sober person at a frat party. Their sex life soon peters out as drugs take over their lives. Using Pink Floyd was probably to attract unwitting youth and drug-users to see (without being preached to) how drugs can kill.

What probably does seem 'standard 1960s' to viewers today is the flat, realistic style of the film which doesn't grab the viewer (unlike the more recent "Sid and Nancy" or "Trainspotting") but was typical of independent and European films of that time. However it's still watchable, and a must for early-Pink Floyd (or "The Pink Floyd", as they're billed in the credits) fans.

"More", maybe, is mostly remembered for the excellent soundtrack composed by Pink Floyd -in 1969 they weren't superstars yet. Actually they made an album with the film music, no fan can miss it!

But this is also the first film of German-French director Barbet Schroeder: it's a cult movie. When it was released, censorship everywhere cut several scenes of sex and drugs. It is also one of the first films to treat explicitly the theme of drug slavery.

A German boy travels to Paris and meets an American girl: they fall in love. Together they search for sun and exoticism. But it's a too high price love: she initiates him into drugs.

In the Sixties anti-drug campaigns were not like today, there wasn't much information. On the contrary, in many milieus taking drugs was a sort of spiritual experience... So it's quite surprising to see a film of that period which describes a nightmarish heroin experience.

The film is simple, not vulgar at all and shot in a "cinema-verité" style. Actors Mimsy Farmer and Klaus Grünberg are very convincing. "More" is a document of the end of the Sixties -and a document of the end of the hippies illusions as well.