Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema: Deadlock (1970)

Sunday December 14th 2014, Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema by Jeffrey Babcock: Deadlock. Directed by Roland Klick, 1970, 88 minutes, in English. Door opens at 8pm, film begins at 9pm.

Thin on storyline but blistering with atmosphere, this film is clearly European in its sensibilities… its just another one those wonderful, eclectic, bizarre artistic films that were churned out in the 70s. Since it was made the film has gained an enthusiastic cult following, despite the fact that its rarely ever been screened. Deadlock is somewhere
between a spaghetti western, a bleak gangster noir and Antonioni’s Zabriski Point.

The film opens with a scene which already defines its surreal style… in a burning desert landscape a man, sweating and heaving, carries a suitcase and a gun. He’s dusty and worn, and looks like a saint delivering a message. What he has with him of course is a very different story…. leading to a twisted cat and mouse game involving three people in a deserted mining town. Like the early work of Jodorowsky this offbeat German film is a strange, metaphysical gangster fable with a mythological tone. And its also featuring an original soundtrack by the
legendary experimental-progressive rock group CAN.

“DEADLOCK is fantastic. A bizarre, illuminating film.” – Alejandro Jodorowsky

“/A stylish mix of gangster ballad and neo-western, set to the psychedelic soundtrack of the Krautrock band Can. This film was awarded the 1971 German film award. A real nugget of nostalgia. I’d even go as far as say that for b-movie fans that live for the kick of discovering hidden gems, Deadlock is a must-see./”

Film night at Joe’s Garage, cozy cinema! Doors open at 8pm, film begins at 9pm, free entrance. You want to play a movie, let us know: joe [at] squat [dot] net