Alexander 'Sasha' Shulgin is the scientist behind more than 200 psychedelic compounds including MDMA, more commonly known as Ecstasy. Considered to be one of the the greatest chemists of the... Read allAlexander 'Sasha' Shulgin is the scientist behind more than 200 psychedelic compounds including MDMA, more commonly known as Ecstasy. Considered to be one of the the greatest chemists of the twentieth century, Sasha's vast array of discoveries has had a profound impact in the fie... Read allAlexander 'Sasha' Shulgin is the scientist behind more than 200 psychedelic compounds including MDMA, more commonly known as Ecstasy. Considered to be one of the the greatest chemists of the twentieth century, Sasha's vast array of discoveries has had a profound impact in the field of psychedelic research. 'Dirty Pictures' delves into the lifework of Dr. Shulgin and s... Read all
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Featured reviews
Sasha published the books Pihkal and Tihkal which are considered to be both the old and the new testament to all organic and pharmaceutical chemists and travellers alike.
Sasha outlined actually more than 400 compounds in both of these books and gives great comments on exoloring further modifications to most of them. Truly the work of a century in organic mind bending chemistry!
This beautiful documentary movie tells the story of quiet a share of his life and raw and candid looks behind the scenes alike. Absolute recommendation!
Its sad that his chemical formulas for things like mescaline and DMT derivatives are considered by many to be "Dirty Pictures", when really they are some of the only paths straight into the mind (not the brain, as Shulgin explains himself)
Don't get me wrong, its not that there wasn't enough detail on drug use (but it sort of is), and there is plenty of humor (although it is subtle) in this documentary, definitely more than I expected. Shulgin is juxtaposed with his son, who collects rare tools (unlike the "tools" Shulgin makes, these are tools in the most traditional way), and a DEA agent. Lots of filler as people ride in trains (this is symbolic of Shulgin's first MDMA trip as is explained in the movie, but it was overused if you ask me) Maybe its just that I'd like to know more about HOW Shulgin started manipulating chemical formulas to make 2c-b and created a whole series of famous 2c-based drugs, or his experiments with countless other hallucinogens, how he got DEA approval, more detail on his struggles with the DEA, since this information is basically nowhere to be found, besides maybe snippets of P/Tihkal.
On the other hand, its interesting to find out about his rebellious son, the way he and Ann go through the day, seeing the lab in person and hearing people being interviewed on their opinions and relation to Sasha Shulgin.
For a movie so exclusive, you would just expect more detail on the "low key" aspects of his life. I was fully prepared to hear psychedelic formulas and experience reports throughout the whole movie, only to find out this wasn't the case. Not a tragedy, but I wish the director had taken that route at least a *bit* more
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- Грязные картинки
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- Runtime
- 1h 30m(90 min)
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- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1