Black Moon
(1975/Criterion Collection Blu-ray)
Picture:
B Sound: C+ Extras: C+ Film: B-
Louis
Malle is one of the more underrated filmmakers of recent decades, though he is
highly respected and always made smart, challenging films. I did not always like every film he made, but
he was an original filmmaker and Blu-ray may finally start a long overdue
renewed interest in his work. Black Moon (1975) is possibly his most
challenging and unique work; a dark fantasy film that even has some Science
Fiction elements and especially Alice In
Wonderland.
A young
lady named Lily (Cathryn Harrison) is riding around in her (then-new) Honda
compact car speeding down the road when she hits an animal slowly crossing the
road, whether she realizes she has done this or not. Suddenly, she finds an unexpected war (it
looks like WWI, but is literally a genre war in a world turned upside down),
but she is able to flee to a supposedly peaceful, normal farmhouse.
However,
it is anything but, with animals that talk, children running around naked as if
they were equals to the animals, an old lady (Therese Giehse) in a bedroom with
a two-way radio who makes limited sense and near twins (Joe Dalessandro,
Alexandra Stewart) who seem to run the place…, sort of.
The results
are of another world with distorted reality that may fly in the face of
civilized moral living, but unlike the Satanic worship in The Wicker Man (the original made around the same time with Edward
Woodward and Christopher Lee) is a world of unusual balance and is much closer
to the Lewis Carroll book (though it barely references it or functions all the
time like it) without being another version of that book. Instead, it is an alternate world of
discovery and is connected to Lily’s budding sexuality, but will she be able to
integrate if she stays or will something odder happen?
As wild
and bizarre as ever, the film holds up well, though some elements did to work
for me. However, I like Malle’s approach
and he also wrote the unique script.
Even better, as compared to recent actual Alice In Wonderland remakes that (in this era of Jane Austen
overkill) do what they can to negate the female sexuality and female discourse
of the book, this boldly faces that and any other issues (not unlike Polanski’s
Repulsion) it can, leaving no stone
unturned. As a result, it becomes its
own unique film and experience with the energy of the counterculture, with all
of its challenges included. I hope more
people see it now and take it on.
The 1080p
1.66 X 1 digital High Definition image comes from the original 35mm camera
negative and has never looked better, with memorable visuals supplied by the
legendary Director of Photography Sven Nykvist that gets a much-needed cleaning
up and without detriment to the original vision of Malle and Nykvist. I have never seen the film looking so good
and fidelity is so important for this particular film to recreate its somewhat
otherworldly sense of cinematic space. Compare
to the trailer and footage in the extras and you’ll see just how good it
is. It has some minor flaws (I noticed a
little flicker at times) but fine otherwise.
The PCM 1.0 Mono comes from a 35mm sound negative that as cleaned up as
well as possible but also shows wear and some of its age. However, it too is superior to previous
releases of the film and the combination makes this more compelling than it has
been since its original release. We also
get a cleaned up alternate French soundtrack in the same format.
Extras
include the usual booklet dedicated to the film with tech details and an
excellent essay by film scholar Ginette Vincendeau on the film and Malle, plus the
disc adds the Original Theatrical Trailer, Gallery of Behind-The-Scenes photos
and 12+ minutes archival interview with Malle about the film you should watch
only after watching the film once… or twice.
- Nicholas Sheffo
