Movie, 1967

Intense, arty film about a struggling nihilistic poet who enlists the help of an advertising agency in order to turn his suicide into a media event. While there are some ideas which sit a little awkwardly or backfire – some of the archive footage cut into the main action seems a little heavy-handed – this is a breath-taking spectacle which despite its tricksiness, is fairly easy viewing. Some great performances and ideas in a colourful, psychedelic film which never gets too kitsch or leaves too many loose ends. Herostratus has a feel of a morality play, in which London looks grimy, desolate and divided and eventually chews up the rebellious spirit of the protagonist struggling to survive within it.