Cloudbusting -- Kate Bush In Her Own Words

Film

Have you any hopes to branch out into films or to theatre?

Yes, I have hopes. No plans, though. I think that's very much something that will come along and I'll know when it is. And I don't think it's in the near future.

Really?

No, I don't think so. I've got to much to do in music, I've only just begun. (1979, Ask Aspel)

My plans for the future... Well, I want to get into films. And I want to do more on stage. I love staging my own shows, working out the routines, designing the whole package, and using every aspect of my creativity.

What kind of films would she like to make?

My favourite is Don't Look Now. I was incredibly impressed by the tension, the drive and the way that every loose end was tied up. I get so irritated by films which leave ideas hanging. (1982, Company)

Some taboo subjects definitely attract me...I don't think I do like particularly gory things. With _Don'tLook Now, Psycho, it's not the gore so much as the emotional effect - the distortion. I don't think I'd ever go and see Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Friday the 13th, things like that. I think it's sick: you know everybody is going to die disgustingly. I prefer films that work around the subject, build you up... (1982, NME)

The following is a list of kate's ``desert island videos", some of her favorite films.

Being stuck there could be an idyllic time. I've enjoyed working alone, even as a kid, and I can collect all my thoughts together then. But the prospect of being there with my favorite films is exciting, because I love the cinema and rarely get the chance to visit it because of my work. So I'd go to town on my selection. Kagemusha

Not a lot of people have heard of this one, but it's by the Japanese director Akira Kurosawa. I just happen to think that this is one of his best. It was a toss up between this and his Seven Samurai, which is a tremendously atmospheric picture. However, I think this one wins the day. Psycho

As there wouldn't be a shower within thousands of miles... or a motel, I feel quite safe having this along with me. Of course it scares me silly, and the fact that it's in black and white only adds to the terror, but Anthony Perkins is so marvellous in it. It's one of those films I can watch lots of times, even though I know the ending. Time Bandits

This is the kind of film that'll be around for years - like the Disney ones. When Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin of the Monty Python team got together on this they must have been inspired, because it appeals to kids and adults alike. The story is so original and seems to incorporate just about everything from pantomime, fairy tales, drama... the whole show. Don't Look Now

Donald Sutherland I can always watch - he's got such a wry sense of humour. Ever since I saw him in M*A*S*H I've been a fan. And yet in this film there's no humour at all. It's a real creepy and has a terrifying climax. But there's such a lot to be observed in the relationship between Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie that you don't get tired of it. Night of the Demon [U.s. Title: curse of the demon]

This is an oldie, if the fifties can be described as old. Night of the Demon is one of the better horror films from that period. It really keeps you on the edge of your seat without frightening you out of it. It's about a secret ancient inscription of the rune symbols at Stonehenge. Whoever holds a certain piece of paper with these written on it incites the wrath of the demons. Very exciting. Barry Lyndon

Not too much to say about this film, except that I love the story and the whole atmosphere of the film. It's just a picture that moves me emotionally. Notorious

Marvellous Hitchcock stuff. Really vintage and one of the classics with Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant. It's that buildup of mystery that fascinate me. Pinocchio

This film just goes on forever; it's timeless. I saw it when I was a child, and I go to see it whenever it comes on the circuit. Magical! I love fairy stories anyway. To Kill a Mockingbird

I read the book, then saw the film, and I wasn't disappointed. It's the story that appeals most here. Just a marvellous film. The Empire Strikes Back

Working this lot out, I've realized what contrasting tastes I've got in films. But here, I think that the sequel to Star Wars is better than its predecessor. There was always the risk that it would be some kind of anti-climax, but it goes beyond expectations. (1983, Popular Video)

How did the session for the film the magician of lublin come about? Did you help maurice jarre write the song or its lyrics?

Maurice Jarre asked me to sing the song, which he had already written. The whole thing was a most enjoyable experience. (1984, KBC 17)

There are many films that you don't think much of at the time, but weeks afterwards you get flashbacks of images. Sometimes films like Don't Look Now and Kagemusha have really haunted me. You don't necessarily steal images from films, but they are very potent and take you somewhere else - somewhere impossible to get to without that spark. (1985, Melody Maker)

But more than other pop musicians or authors, miss Bush said movies have inspired her. Among film makers, she said she most admires Alfred Hitchcock, Nicolas Roeg and Terry Gilliam.

Their work has spoken to me as directly as that of any other kind of artist. Many of my songs I think of as very filmic. (1985, The New York Times)

Does having such complete control seem overwhelming at times? Yes, it does. But I think in a way, what I'm moving towards, and I don't know if it'll work or not, but I feel like it's all leading me to the combination of music and film. I hope that someday maybe in a few years, I could experiment with making a film.

Really?

Yeah. I'm really -

You mean, like a full length feature?

Maybe not a full length feature, but yes I'd love to, I really would like to work with visuals and music at the same time, because at the moment I'm restricted to making visuals in the context of videos to music that already exists. I'd really like to play with this a lot more. (1989, KFNX)

I have this desire in the back of my mind now of making music and film at the same time - putting the two together. IT WOULD SEEM A NATURAL, CONSIDERING THAT SHE HAS CONCEIVED AND DIRECTED MOST OF HER OWN PROMOTIONAL VIDEOS.

Bush - who also produces her albums and plays piano and synthesizer - came close to going beyond four-minute videos when she flirted with the idea of making a film based on the ninth wave, the intriguing conceptual second side of the hounds of love.

What I wanted to do was turn that into a half-hour film integrating music with visuals. When I was writing it, I was really thinking visually. It was just unfortunate that by the time I had the opportunity to make the film I was just too tired. I did not have the energy. (1990, Los Angeles Times)

So many films touch you,even if it's only the atmosphere you're left with. There was The Innocents (ADAPTED FROM HENRY JAMES'S GHOST STORY The Turn Of The Screw AND DIRECTED IN 1961 BY JACK CLAYTON, STARRING DEBORAH KERR AND MICHAEL REDGRAVE) which I saw when I was a kid. It was so strong, and years later I wrote ``The Infant Kiss'' There's an old horror film called Night Of The Demon (ADAPTED FROM THE M.R. JAMES SHORT STORY ``CASTIN THE RUNES'' AND DIRECTED IN 1957 BY JACQUES TOURNEUR, STARRING DANA ANDREWS AND PEGGY CUMMINS) and that very much inspired `` Hounds Of Love'' (1990, Q Special)

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