Huh?

 

 (indb)

BLACK MOON-1975-In the future Lily (Cathryn Harrison), a young woman, travels around the countryside in a land ravaged by a war between men and women. After seeing a unicorn, she follows a woman riding a horse and encounters some naked children playing with a pig. She enters a house where a piglet is in a highchair. After drinking a glass of milk, she's almost strangled by a bed ridden woman (Therese Giehse) who afterwards gives a description of Lily in a radio transmission (“She has a punk nose”). Later the woman seems to strangle herself to death and Lily meets the opera singing gardener (Joe Dallesandro) named Brother Lily. He and Sister Lily (Alexandra Stuart) seem to be in charge of the children. It ends with Lily getting ready to breast feed the unicorn. 

If you like movies that seem to make no sense but might be some kind of allegorical puzzle with fantasy and horror aspects, you might enjoy it. 

French director/writer Louis Malle filmed much of it on his own estate with Sven Nykrist as the cinematographer (he shot most of Igamar Bergman's films). Star Harrison (1959-2018) was the daughter of Noel Harrison and granddaughter of Rex Harrison.

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Polanski and Pleasence

 

CUL DE SAC-1966-Weirdo allegory art drama about a sleazy annoying gangster Richard (Lionel Stander) and his equally annoying much worse wounded partner (Jack MacGowran) who get lost in North Cumberland after a botched bank robbery. He wanders till he finds a castle occupied by an eccentric wimpy bald man George (Donald Pleasence) and his much younger slutty dominant wife Teresa (Francoise Dorleac). After his partner dies, Richard kind of takes over the place and at one point pretends to be their servant when a bunch of their friends come over. Eventually he's killed by the husband who seems to lose his mind, scaring his wife away and winding up alone and abandoned. 

Incomprehensible nuttiness by Roman Polanski made in between REPULSION and THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS.

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Japan

 

PITFALL-1962-After running away from a mining camp a guy (Hisashi Igawa) and his young son and his friend hideout digging coal for an old man. A man dressed in white with a pith helmet seems to be following and photographing them. After deserting that job they take another hauling dirt. He's told about a job in another village but when he and his son go there they find it deserted save for one woman shopkeeper. When he finally encounters the man in white he's attacked and stabbed. He dies but his spirit wanders the village where other spirits reside. Later he follows the police investigation and finds the mysterious things happening have an explanation. After the shopkeeper is raped the man in white kills her. The backdrop is two mines, the old pit and the new one. 

Director Hiroshi Teshigahara presents monster what appears to be an allegory on the protests of conditions for miners. A big issue at the time in Japan. It's both sad and thought provoking. 

Based on a novel by Kobo Abe who also wrote the screenplay, he and Teshigahara would team for four more films including FACE OF ANOTHER.

Thanks for reading!