8/4/06: Blue Sunshine (1977)We mark the first full month of RightWingTrash, and thanks to everyone who’s made us more popular than we should be at this point. Still, you have to sympathize with the artists behind these fine works. There are plenty of movies about zombies and
giant spiders, and yet some people question the need for a well-regulated militia. Also,
druggies keep killing themselves despite
Blue Sunshine being available on DVD.
This societal thriller made its original small impact through college screenings and
The CBS Late Movie. It’d be worthy of preservation just as another film by writer/director
Jeff Lieberman. He’s no
William Lustig, but this site will be covering lots of Lieberman.
Blue Sunshine, however, is Lieberman’s cautionary masterpiece. The ’60s catch up with a bunch of Stanford graduates who don’t know that they’re getting their money’s worth from a bad batch of LSD. Ten years later, they’re losing their hair while suffering headaches induced by kiddies and disco. And, unlike their contemporaries, they’re turning into homicidal maniacs instead of Republicans.
There’s nothing subtle about Lieberman’s script. He’s equally bold about the man behind the mayhem. Mark Goddard—updating his role in 1967’s
The Love-Ins—provides a charming turn as the former drug dealer turned Congressional candidate. Here’s what we know about the politician whose posters declare “Here Is The Future”: He doesn’t trust the private sector, he wants subsidized medical care, and he’s a big Barbra Streisand fan.
Lieberman isn’t subtle, but he was a real visionary.
Blue Sunshine is also genuinely entertaining. Future schlock director Zalman King makes a great lead as idealistic drifter (and former top Cornell grad) Jerry Zipkin. He’s falsely accused of murders committed by one of the psychos, and is properly hysterical throughout the film.
Fortunately, Zipkin eventually meets one of the most helpful gun store employees in the history of cinema. Our hero’s panic is understandable, though. The kids who dropped Blue Sunshine are today’s authority figures. Good liberal Zipkin is dealing with murderous cops and baby sitters. Plus, he’s having to hide from the police by wearing a suit and tie. By the end of the film, Zipkin’s learned how to adjust the jacket while extending his firearm.
Make it your own: Synapse Films did justice to their
2003 Blue Sunshine DVD. Lieberman provides commentary on both the film and an earlier anti-drug short called
The Ringer. Just about every copy out there includes the “limited edition” bonus CD of soundtrack music—complete with disco tunes guaranteed to send you into a murderous rage.
Bonus merchandising: Rhino’s new reissue of
Blue Sunshine, the album by Cure frontman Robert Smith’s side project The Glove—and, yes, named after a film that neither Smith or partner Steve Severin had seen.
