| It’s the epitome of understatement to say that jazz legend Sun Ra was a bit of a weirdo.
When he wasn’t expounding on his own bizarre cosmic genesis and mythology, Ra (a.k.a. Herman Sonny Blount) was dabbling on the frontiers of jazz with his avant-garde big band the Arkestra. Always attempting to help fans transcend their corporeal lives with some out-there tunes, Ra deserves much more than an esoteric footnote in the history of jazz. While the 1990s saw the re-release of many of his albums on CD, it is the DVD release of the 1974 sci-fi/blaxploitation flick Space is the Place starring Ra as himself, that may consolidate his street cred with hipsters of this generation.
Space is the Place is no mere concert film. Instead, it delves wholeheartedly – and sometimes incomprehensibly – into the story of a musician from outer space (Ra) who comes to Earth to battle The Overseer (Ray Johnson), a sort of Mephistophelian pimp figure, for the future of the black race. Through explicit references to the civil rights movement of the 1960s and the uprising of militant group the Black Panthers, the film addresses racial politics in the context of a low-budget science-fiction musical. Performances by the Arkestra, billed here as The Intergalactic Myth-Science Solar Arkestra, are scattered throughout the film amid irreverent comedic sequences that make a mockery of black stereotypes.
Ra composed all the music for the film and, according to the accompanying interview with honky director John Coney, also wrote all his own lines. These include zingers like, "How do you know I’m real? I’m not real. I’m just like you. You don’t exist in this society. If you did, you people wouldn’t be seeking equal rights…. I do not come to you as reality, I come to you as the myth because that’s what black people are – myths."
OK, so Ra’s jive-talk would probably seem much more "cosmic" after smoking a giant bowl of hash, but the film’s idealism is worth celebrating nevertheless. Space is the Place may have failed to incite a revolution, but that’s not because it lacks heaping gobs of Ra’s inspirational philosophy. Usually his sermons are delivered as Ra struts around in a golden Egyptian headdress with a retinue of bird-headed disciples in tow – I told you he was a nutter.
Set in Oakland at the height of the black power movement, the film also incorporates a stellar cast of Afroed scenesters, some clamouring after Ra’s whacked-out wisdom, others making soul-destroying deals with Ra’s arch-nemesis The Overseer. Will Ra succeed in his crusade? You’ll have to see the film through to its apocalyptic conclusion to find out.
The production design and costumes are still a thrill for disbelieving eyes, although it must be said that Ra’s musical abilities in the ’70s weren’t quite what they were at the height of his powers in the late 1950s and early 1960s. More than making up for these musical shortcomings is the collection of home movies featuring Ra and the Arkestra in Egypt, added as a DVD bonus feature.
As a document of a weirdo genius and his unique spaced-out philosophy, Space is the Place is a must for Ra’s fans and a genuine oddity to be savoured by cultists of all stripes. |
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