There are some very weird movies out there, and even if I live to be 100, I probably will not discover them all -- I certainly knew nothing about this very strange confection from French director Louis Malle, whose films would normally be described as accessible. Where to start? Well we are in some country where there is an ongoing war between men and women -- not like there is in reality, but one in which they are killing each other. Our young heroine played by Cathryn Harrison, Rex's grand-daughter when she was about 15, stumbles upon a country mansion, where naked children frolic in the grounds chasing an enormous pig. Inside she finds a bedridden hag, the last role of German refugee Therese Giehse, who is busy talking "rat" to her pet rodent. There are also a pair of adult twins (both called Lily) played by Joe Dallesando of Andy Warhol fame in a non-speaking role (although he is heard in the distance singing German lieder) and a similarly silent Alexandra Stewart, who despite her name is French (Canadian). Part of Stewart's role in life is to breast-feed the old hag and to cook for the youngsters who appear and disappear. It's an Alice-in-Wonderland type world that the youngster explores, full of a number of ringing alarm clocks which can only be silenced by throwing them out of the window and a talking unicorn that wanders through the grounds. Now most unicorns, legend would have it, are white and graceful; this one for some reason is dark grey and squat, a cross between a pony and an oversized dog.
You get the idea, we are back on Planet Weird and I very much doubt that much of it is meant to mean anything in particular. It's almost as if Malle is saying to the viewer, 'Look at how clever I am and how confusing I can be'. Still it is lovingly lensed by the master Scandinavian cinematographer Sven Nyquist. Just don't try to figure out what either "Black" or "Moon" have to do with the story. I suppose there IS something black about the tale, and they do say that the moon makes you mad -- but I somehow doubt that is what Malle had in mind.
3 comments:
Yep that does sound like a weird one...LOL>.hope you have a great weekend! Hugs,TerryAnn
I actually quite like the sound of this one. What language was it filmed in?
Louis Malle must have dropped acid (LSD) before making this film. To watch Rex Harrison's daughter, at 15 years of age mind you, breast feeding old french ladies was, how you say, off the hook. I could not watch the whole film because it was totally fucked up. This must have been a bet somebody made to see if they could make this movie.
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