Amon Düül II Spielt Phallus Dei

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3

Rüdiger Nüchtern's film "Amon Düül II Spielt Phallus Dei" from 1968. And just as the title says, it shows Amon Düül II performing what soon would be the title-track from their first album. The film itself is very artsy, and mixes the band with footage of the sunrise above a forest, trees, clouds and general shots of the German countryside. The band plays in front of a wall with lots of animated psychedelic colours and patterns, but it surprisingly enough never becomes distractive or disturbing. The film is shot from only one angle, and in the beginning we see little else than Renate Knaup and Shrat, but the angle fortunately widens after a while, and we're allowed to see the rest of the band. The musical performance is very good, and the track lasts for 5 minutes longer than the studio version. Chris Karrer's dancing during the percussion part is priceless. "Play Phallus Dei" gives you not just a unique glimpse of some classic early krautrock, but stands also as one of the first examples of making a music video.