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lost because of what was necessary to film the legs. I don't know how you can do what I originally had in mind.
MacDonald:
Jonas and Adolfas Mekas are thanked at the end of
Up Your Legs Forever
.
Ono:
Because they did the editing. That was one of the few films I didn't edit myself.
MacDonald:
Somebody mentioned to me the other day, and I assume it's not true, that
Erection
was originally a film about John's penis. Was there a film like that?
Ono:
Yes, there was. But it wasn't called
Erection
. I think it was called
Self Portrait,
and it wasn't an erection, it was just a long shot of his penis. That was his idea. The funny thing was that
Self Portrait
was never questioned by customs because of its title, and
Erection,
which was about the erection of a building, was questioned.
MacDonald:
Is there a relation between the 1971 version of
Imagine
and the recent
Imagine: John Lennon
?
Ono:
There's no relationship. We wanted to make a surrealistic film in the tradition of Luis Bufiuel and Jean Cocteau. It was John's idea to say just one or two words at the beginning, and make the rest of the film silent, like a silent movie. I liked that idea and we did it. I think that now it's more or less known as a forefather of MTV. Each scene came from some idea John or I had. it was really a collaboration between John and me.
MacDonald:
Are you involved in film now? Are you planning to make films? You made several videos in the early eighties, but it's been a while since you've made a film.
Ono:
I don't know; it might get to that. I'm one of those people who can't do something unless I'm totally motivated. That's one of the reasons I jump from one medium to another. I did the Whitney Museum show, and suddenly all the inspiration is sculptural; and then last night or the night before, I went to the studio to do some music. But I'm not getting that feeling like I gotta make a filmexcept for
The Tea Party
[the film script "Film No. 7 (Tea Party)"]: for years I've been wanting to make that one, but because of the technical difficulties I don't seem to be able to get it together. I think one of the reasons I'm not making more films is that I've done so many film scripts. I'd like to see one of them made by somebody else. Maybe one day out of the blue I'll feel it so strongly that I'll make a film myself again.