Wholly Communion (1965)

A short film documenting what was referred to as "The International Poetry Incarnation". It was billed as Great Britain's first full-scale "happening", with the world's leading Beat poets ... See full summary »

Director:

Peter Whitehead

Stars:

Gregory Corso, Harry Fainlight, Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Cast

Credited cast:
Gregory Corso	...	Himself
Harry Fainlight	...	Himself
Lawrence Ferlinghetti	...	Himself
Allen Ginsberg	...	Himself
Michael Horovitz	...	Himself
Ernst Jandl	...	Himself
Christopher Logue	...	Himself
Adrian Mitchell	...	Himself
Alexander Trocchi	...	Himself
Simon Vinkenoog	...	Himself

Storyline

A short film documenting what was referred to as "The International Poetry Incarnation". It was billed as Great Britain's first full-scale "happening", with the world's leading Beat poets together under one roof at the Royal Albert Hall on June 11, 1965, for an evening of near-hallucinatory revelry. It came to be seen as one of the cultural high points of the Swinging Sixties.

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Plot Keywords:

poetry | independent film

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Genres:

Documentary | Short

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 December 2007 (France)

Also Known As:

Sainte communion

Filming Locations:

Royal Albert Hall, South Kensington, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lorrimer Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

33 min

Color:

Black and White

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in Herostratus (1967)

User Reviews

a repetitious bore

"Wholly Communion," a 32-minute report on a recital by a gang of modern poets, mostly beatniks, in Albert Hall in London in 1965 is a useless narration. It is colorful and droll for about 10 minutes. Then it is a repetitious bore.

In Summer 1965, the Hall was filled to overflowing for the historic gathering of world voices which celebrated the renaissance of performance poetry and international times.

WHOLLY COMMUNION marks Whitehead's first breakthrough: a document of the historic convention at the Royal Albert Hall of English and American Beat poets. Starring Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and more. "The Albert Hall poetry reading memorialized in Peter Whitehead's Wholly Communion brought the stars of US Beat poetry together with their English peers. As a reading it was chaotic - but as a cultural event it was incomparable. It was the climax of beatnik dreams, and the launch of the hippies. Seven thousand people arrived, a vast "alternative" constituency few could have imagined. The Albert Hall, booked for 450 pounds, had never seen anything like it. From it came the confidence to found the first "underground institutions", The Indica Gallery, The International Times and much more.