Hail The New Puritan

Directed by Charles Atlas

Exhuberant and witty, Hail the New Puritan is a simulated day-in-the-life “docufantasy” starring the British dance celebrity Michael Clark. Atlas’ fictive portrait of the charismatic choreographer serves as a vivid invocation of the studied decadence of the 1980s post-punk London subculture. Contriving a faux cinema-verité format in which to stage his stylised fiction, Atlas seamlessly integrates Clark’s extraordinary dance performances into the docu-narrative flow. Focusing on Clark’s flamboyantly postured eroticism and the artifice of his provocative balletic performances, Atlas posits the dance as a physical manifestation of Clark’s psychology. From the surreal opening dream sequence to the final solo dance, Clark’s milieu of fashion, clubs and music signifies for Atlas “a time capsule of a certain period and context in London that’s now gone.”

Duration:
85 minutes

Languages:
English

Country of origin:
USA

Year of production:
1985-86