Year: 1994
Director: Gimpo
Country: UK
Language: English
The KLF (also known as The Justified Ancients of Mumu, The Jams, and The Timelords) were a British acid house band of the late 80's and early 90's. Beginning in 1987, the KLF sought out to release sample heavy records which would become international hits and make them pioneers of sampling. Notorious avante garde anarchists, their performances were nothing less than shocking, sometimes resorting to throwing firing blanks from a machine gun at the audience.
The K Foundation Burn a Million Quid was an action on 23 August 1994 in which the K Foundation (an art duo consisting of Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty) burned cash in the amount of one million pounds sterling in a disused boathouse on the Ardfin Estate on the Scottish island of Jura. The money represented the bulk of their earnings during the brief time they were on top of the British charts.
Initially Drummond was unrepentant in his decision to burn the money, stating that he couldn't imagine ever feeling regret unless his child was ill and only "an expensive clinic" could cure him. Ever since 2004 he was been slightly wary about the decision, claiming that it's hard to explain why he did it to critics of his actions. The film is an emotional roller-coaster, because it urges the viewer to think about their principles. Is burning a million quid an ethical dilemma? Is it selfish? Surely the money could have gone to charity. Although would a million quid make any difference in the long run?
The film is a meditation into the morality and artistic merit of burning a million quid. Even the people setting pound after pound on fire debate whether this action has any meaning consequence or expression. Perhaps their action is meaningless and they aren't making any grand gesture against the establishment or capitalism in general.
While this is a generally forgotten film, I think The K Foundation Burn A Million Quid is rather riveting and thought provoking, if not inspiring. As Drummond himself has said, "We realized that struggling artists are meant to struggle, that's the whole point." Praise it! 4/5
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