Black Moon (1975)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Louis Malle

Writers:

Louis Malle (written by)
Joyce Buñuel (collaboration: dialogue)

Release Date:

24 September 1975 (France)

Genre:

Fantasy | Sci-Fi | War

Tagline:

An apocalyptic Alice in Wonderland!

Plot:

There is a war in the world between the men and the women. A young girl tries to escape this reality...

Plot Keywords:

Unicorn | Dead Woman On Ground | Alternative Reality | Dead Body | Snake

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Cathryn Harrison	...	Lily
Therese Giehse	...	Old Lady (as Thérèse Giehse)
Alexandra Stewart	...	Sister Lily
Joe Dallesandro	...	Brother Lily

Runtime:

France:100 min | France:95 min

Country:

France | West Germany

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:12 | Australia:M | Finland:K-18 | Sweden:15 | USA:R | West Germany:16 (bw) | Brazil:16

Company:

Nouvelles Éditions de Films (NEF)

Quotes:

The old woman: [talking to someone over the radio] The girl? She just lost her bloomers and now she's eating the cheese.
[listens]
The old woman: Of course there was Christmas cheese!

Soundtrack:

Tristan und Isolde

not for everyone

Black Moon is not for everyone and thank goodness for that. Those who follow Malle know what to expect in his films in terms of the surreal and those who enjoy this sort of film should perhaps not gnash their teeth over its non-Hollywood approach to film-making.

It's ashame one has to go back to the mid-70's to find this kind of film amidst the blockbuster generation of "films" coming out of Hollywood. The film is effective in generating a frightening dreamlike environment in which no one knows what to expect. More like life than not. This rarely seen film is well worth viewing if you can find it. I happened to catch most of it on satellite recently and it was great to see the quality of Eastman color film and how well it is holding up in our digitally defined era. I especially enjoyed the tension created during the piano segment.