Black Moon (1975)
Country: FR/GER
Technical: col 100m
Director: Louis Malle
Cast: Cathryn Harrison, Therese Giehse, Alexandra Stewart, Joe Dallesandro
Synopsis:
In an indeterminate future, when a war rages between the sexes, a young girl fugitive takes refuge in a country house inhabited by a brother and sister both bearing her name, a gaggle of naked children herding pigs, and a bedridden old woman who spouts a mishmash of tongues and talks into a radio. There is also an elusive unicorn who is the sole party with whom the girl manages to have any meaningful discourse.
Review:
In filming this adult Alice in Wonderland at his own house in the South-West not far from or long after shooting Lacombe Lucien, Malle was clearly intent on doing something completely different. Employing the Brechtian actress Giehse, the lookalike Stewart and Dallesandro, and Buñuel's daughter as co-scenarist, and ill-advisedly choosing English as the dominant language, all contribute to the rather unique atmosphere of the film, which lasts for nearly half an hour before a line of dialogue is spoken. The young Harrison appears to have been chosen for her blond hair, shapely legs and pert nipples (visible most of the time through her blouse), rather than any great acting talent even in her own language, and there are a number of scenes with animals and invertebrates which must have tested the patience of the production, including a hen pecking a female cadaver on the bosom, and an eagle flapping around an upstairs room. Quite what Malle's intentions were remain unclear to the end of this memorable folly, which proved just a bit too different for most.
Country: FR/GER
Technical: col 100m
Director: Louis Malle
Cast: Cathryn Harrison, Therese Giehse, Alexandra Stewart, Joe Dallesandro
Synopsis:
In an indeterminate future, when a war rages between the sexes, a young girl fugitive takes refuge in a country house inhabited by a brother and sister both bearing her name, a gaggle of naked children herding pigs, and a bedridden old woman who spouts a mishmash of tongues and talks into a radio. There is also an elusive unicorn who is the sole party with whom the girl manages to have any meaningful discourse.
Review:
In filming this adult Alice in Wonderland at his own house in the South-West not far from or long after shooting Lacombe Lucien, Malle was clearly intent on doing something completely different. Employing the Brechtian actress Giehse, the lookalike Stewart and Dallesandro, and Buñuel's daughter as co-scenarist, and ill-advisedly choosing English as the dominant language, all contribute to the rather unique atmosphere of the film, which lasts for nearly half an hour before a line of dialogue is spoken. The young Harrison appears to have been chosen for her blond hair, shapely legs and pert nipples (visible most of the time through her blouse), rather than any great acting talent even in her own language, and there are a number of scenes with animals and invertebrates which must have tested the patience of the production, including a hen pecking a female cadaver on the bosom, and an eagle flapping around an upstairs room. Quite what Malle's intentions were remain unclear to the end of this memorable folly, which proved just a bit too different for most.
Country: FR/GER
Technical: col 100m
Director: Louis Malle
Cast: Cathryn Harrison, Therese Giehse, Alexandra Stewart, Joe Dallesandro
Synopsis:
In an indeterminate future, when a war rages between the sexes, a young girl fugitive takes refuge in a country house inhabited by a brother and sister both bearing her name, a gaggle of naked children herding pigs, and a bedridden old woman who spouts a mishmash of tongues and talks into a radio. There is also an elusive unicorn who is the sole party with whom the girl manages to have any meaningful discourse.
Review:
In filming this adult Alice in Wonderland at his own house in the South-West not far from or long after shooting Lacombe Lucien, Malle was clearly intent on doing something completely different. Employing the Brechtian actress Giehse, the lookalike Stewart and Dallesandro, and Buñuel's daughter as co-scenarist, and ill-advisedly choosing English as the dominant language, all contribute to the rather unique atmosphere of the film, which lasts for nearly half an hour before a line of dialogue is spoken. The young Harrison appears to have been chosen for her blond hair, shapely legs and pert nipples (visible most of the time through her blouse), rather than any great acting talent even in her own language, and there are a number of scenes with animals and invertebrates which must have tested the patience of the production, including a hen pecking a female cadaver on the bosom, and an eagle flapping around an upstairs room. Quite what Malle's intentions were remain unclear to the end of this memorable folly, which proved just a bit too different for most.