Watch Helen Mirren Being Incredibly Sexy In An Experimental Film From 1968
One of Mirren's earliest film performances came in Don Levy's rarely seen HEROSTRATUS.
Artist, teacher and experimental filmmaker Don Levy made one feature length film, Herostratus. Almost nobody saw it (and that's still the case today), but for those who did catch the 1968 release it was a big deal. Levy's film is said to have influenced Michael Winner and Stanley Kubrick.
Herostratus takes its title from the Greek historical figure; a young man seeking fame, Herostratus decided to get it by burning down the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Because he wanted to be famous, Herostratus turned himself in to the authorities. He was executed and his name was to be stricken from all records - to thwart his goal - but the historian Theopompous wrote of him, and here we are today, talking about him.
In Levy's Herostratus, Max is a young man who decides to pursue fame by jumping off a tall building. Star Michael Gothard ended up best known for the British TV series Arthur of the Britons, and for being the villain in For Your Eyes Only. He, like Don Levy, ended his own life.
Helen Mirren made her film debut in Herostratus. Her presence is electric, and the way that Levy has her breaking the fourth wall, talking directly to us, is incredibly exciting. Imagine if there had been an internet in 1968 - I tend to think Mirren would have been its sweetheart.
