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It Came from the Reader-Suggested Queue

IT CAME FROM THE READER-SUGGESTED QUEUE: THEMROC (1973)

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DIRECTED BY: Claude Faraldo

FEATURING: , Béatrice Romand, Marilù Tolo

PLOT: An unnamed worker rebels against social norms.

Still from "Themroc" (1973)

COMMENTS: The anarchic, sexually liberated atmosphere of the late 1960s and 1970s left a rich cinematic legacy. Many auteurs inspired by the era’s revolutionary ideologies produced subversive masterpieces, bold in every sense of the word, both formally and thematically. Themroc is a product of this environment, even if it is a bit dated and tame in comparison with wilder contemporaries like Sweet Movie (1974) or 120 Days in Sodom (1975).  But it is a decent attempt at 1970s-style taboo-breaking.

The story follows a lonely, horny worker living with his sister and mother. He is alienated and repressed, a dormant beast. The film avoids actual dialogue: the few words spoken are unintelligible gibberish. The characters communicate non-linguistically or just physically, highlighting their animalistic nature.

Our hero constantly coughs, with his coughing sometimes transforming into a roar. He is truly a lion in a cage. His mother shows similar bodily responses, hiccuping when stressed. A female neighbor obsessively sucks her thumb. Later on, touching and moaning will take the lead as the ultimate forms of non-verbal communication.

As the plot develops, a trivial incident at work becomes the catalyst for the protagonist to decide to break free from social and moral conventions. Breaking his room’s outside walls, he transforms it into an alternative public-private space of free love, incest, cannibalism, and so on. It sounds extreme, but it develops like a schematic anti-capitalistic and anti-authoritarian parable, and the most shocking imagery is only implied. Any pretense of realism and in-depth political discourse gives way to naïve escapist fantasy, especially when our hero overcomes problems with law enforcement by employing an orangutan-like power and attitude.

This isn’t an idolization of brute force, nor a revolution of the individual. The whole neighborhood is inspired by this man’s acts, and they establish a collective effort. The tale becomes a touching call for revolution and an ode to the communal spirit, even if it remains simplistic and without clear propositions.

Themroc may be meaningful as an elliptical parable, but it isn’t always the transgressive radical statement it claims to be. A few edgy fun moments prove themselves pretty unmemorable in the long term.

WHAT THE CRITICS SAY:

“It’s an oddity to be sure, but it’s one that rewards curiosity through a rich narrative and complex ideas.”–Douglas Davidson, Elements of Madness (Blu-ray)

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Themroc [Blu-ray]

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    It Came from the Reader-Suggested Queue

    IT CAME FROM THE READER-SUGGESTED QUEUE: WAKE IN FRIGHT (1971)

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    Recommended

    DIRECTED BY: Ted Kotcheff

    FEATURING: Gary Bond, ,

    PLOT: A  teacher in the Australian outback plans to visit Sydney for his New Year’s holiday, but bad decisions and wild instincts take the lead instead.

    Still from Wake in Fright (1971)

    COMMENTS: The “Australian New Wave” occurred from the early 1970s and the late 1980s. Heavily inspired by the structure, transgressive nature, and aesthetics of New Hollywood and American cinema in general, these films found a solid fan base in the United States. Though made by a Canadian director, Wake in Fright, based on the titular novel by Kenneth Cook, is an excellent case study of how the Australian New Wave draws formal inspiration from genres and styles associated with American cinematic and literary traditions, starting with the opening 360° shot revealing a vast deserted landscape straight out of a Hollywood Western.

    Our protagonist, a teacher in the middle of nowhere, feels trapped, but finds a glimmer of hope in the idea of visiting Sydney for a few weeks during the New Year holidays. However, nothing goes according to plan, and he finds himself trapped once again in a neighboring small town. This isn’t your typical Kafkaesque nightmare of absurd, never-ending entrapment and paranoia, however. The style is realist, reminiscent of a Southern Gothic adapted to the outback, with a similar aim of using its oppressive atmosphere to depict real social horrors. The Australian countryside here is a hellscape peopled by barbaric eccentrics. But they are not the real villains. They play the role of corruptors, but it’s our protagonist’s own deeply hidden passions and desires that push him over the edge. His own mistakes make him unable to leave this town, at least for the time being. But in the meantime, he discovers friendship and an escape from societal norms among a group of local outlaws.

    The strangest of them all is Doc Tydon, an alcoholic doctor and self-taught sage who lives like a bum. He awakens the violent monster lurking inside our humble teacher through a series of violent initiation rituals culminating in a sadistic kangaroo hunt. Let it be noted that the kangaroo hunt is real, and may prove upsetting to animal lovers. On the other hand, this rawness offers a naturalistic, almost documentary-like feel.

    Our hero’s journey brings him face-to-face with his inner self, in a transformation that verges on self-destruction. In any case, it isn’t a ian, surrealistic tale, even if the premise suggests something along these lines. It’s about real horrors and the way our instincts make a fool out of us. It is, above all, a psychological odyssey with a few sociological elements. A dark transgressive masterpiece, but not exactly a weird one.

    WHAT THE CRITICS SAY:

    “…this strange and beguiling film (served with a tangy chaser of black humour) has been given a thoroughly welcoming digital spruce-up…  an absolute must-see for fans of cult, off-kilter cinema.”–Adam Lowes, HeyUGuys (Blu-ray)

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    Wake In Fright [Limited Edition] [4K Ultra

    Wake In Fright [Limited Edition] [4K Ultra HD]

    • After a bad gambling bet, a teacher is marooned in a town full of drunk, violent men who threaten to make him just as crazy, drunk, and violent.

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    It Came from the Reader-Suggested Queue

    CAPSULE: CELESTIAL WIVES OF THE MEADOW MARI (2012)

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    Небесные жены луговых мари

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    DIRECTED BY: Aleksey Fedorchenko

    FEATURING: Nadezhda Smirnova, Yana Esipovich, Roman Mishin

    PLOT: A series of vignettes depicting aspects of Mari culture,  each revolving around a different female figure whose name starts with “O.”

    Still from Celestial Wives of the Meadow Mari (2012)

    COMMENTS:  Aleksey Fedorchenko is perhaps one of the most creative and widely known auteurs in contemporary Russian arthouse cinema. His works Silent Souls (2010), Celestial Wives (2012), and Angels of Revolution (2014) form an atypical trilogy about Russian ethnic minorities, focusing on the Merja, the Mari, and the Khanty, respectively. The ethnographic and folkloristic approach is apparent even from the title.

    Celestial Wives is a collection of short tales and micro-fiction written by Russian writer Denis Osokin, a close collaborator of Fedorchenko’s. A short prologue welcomes us to a pagan society where magical thinking governs people’s lives. The following series of vignettes deal with sexuality, our relationship to our bodies, and rituals. Fedorchenko puts women at the forefront, hinting at a matriarchal society; each tale focuses on a different female, her name always starting with “O”—a playful twist on the literary and musical form of the theme and variations. Each chapter takes its title from its homonymous heroine.

    “Odocha” and “Onalcha” explore ideas of the sacred and acts of blasphemy. Through ritualistic acts, “Osylay” and “Ormarche” offer glimpses into Mari society’s relationship with Thanatos and Eros.  Other segments focus on a destigmatized view of sexuality and the human—especially female—body. And then there are a few chapters that turn away from the purely anthropological, towards magical realist territory.

    Here things become somewhat bizarre. Magical realism, often thought of as the mildest form of surrealism, is the most expressive way to translate an animistic worldview into visual language. “Oropti” and “Oshalyak” are the most notable examples of this stylistic shift. Demonic entities and evil curses appear on screen, not only as part of people’s beliefs, but as real phenomena.

    All in all, this is ethnographic cinema with elements of magical realism. The short form episodes add an anecdotal style reminiscent of oral narrative traditions, while carefully composed shots enhance the pervasive lyricism. If you love poetic international cinema as a window on different cultures, you will enjoy this experience. But it won’t satiate the hunger for strangeness that hardcore fans of the weird seek.

    WHAT THE CRITICS SAY:

    “Bizarre doesn’t begin to cover Celestial Wives of the Meadow Mari’s collection of wild and weird vignettes.”–Chris Buckle, The Skinny (Edinburgh) (festival screening)

    [(This movie was nominated for review by “Tomasz”: “Celestial Wives Of Meadow Mari” (2012) is something !” Suggest a weird movie of your own here.)

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    Capsules

    CAPSULE: MONDO CANDIDO (1975)

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    AKA The World Is a Wonderful Show; White World

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    DIRECTED BY: ,

    FEATURING: Christopher Brown, Michele Miller,

    PLOT: Candide, thrown out of the idealized bubble he grew up in, and has to come to terms with the hardships of real life.

    Still from Mondo Candido (1975)

    COMMENTS: Jacopetti and Prosperi are mostly known inventing the “mondo” film (Mondo Cane, Africa Addio), a genre of exploitative shockumentaries produced in large quantities in the late 60s and early 70s. Despite its name, Mondo Candido is not a mondo film. While retaining elements of social critique from their previous works, this purely narrative literary adaptation was a change in style for this duo of directors (and also their final collaboration).

    Above all else, Mondo Candido is slightly campy, slightly grotesque fiction, loosely based on Voltaire’s emblematic novel “Candide.” Voltaire, an Enlightenment intellectual, was a skeptic, and “Candide” heavily parodied the ideas of German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz , especially his belief that we live “in the best of all possible worlds”. Voltaire’s humor is deconstructive, dark, and full of cynicism, and translates well to the cinematic environment of the crazy, revolutionary 70s.

    The plot revolves around our young hero Candide: noble, chivalrous, pure of heart. Candide grows up in a privileged environment, inside a castle, educated by philosopher Pangloss, a caricature of Leibniz who advocates the position that our world is as ideal as it can be. However, as an adult Candide falls in love with Cunégonde, the baron’s daughter, enraging her father who deems him unworthy and throws him out. And so, his misadventures begin.

    The world proves itself to be an earthly hell, and his journey takes the form of a esque odyssey. Jacopetti and Preosperi create an atmosphere of extravagant dreaminess, suggested by a playful, anachronistic, and kitschy mise-en-scène. A few graphic segments commenting on the absurdity of war could even pass for excerpts from an film.

    The film establishes a quixotic narrative as Candide learns of Cunégonde’s whereabouts and makes it his life’s mission to find her again. But the ideal romantic images he has in his mind turn sour again and again, hurting him more than any physical torture ever could. He never stops his search, however, in a journey that traverses not only continents, but also eras.

    If the first half of the film incorporates anachronistic elements, the latter one leaves aside any pretense of a period piece, transferring our hero into the 20th century. It plays out like an attempt to reveal the ills of the film’s contemporary era as well as explore the timelessness of Voltaire’s fiction. Familiar faces like Pangloss reappear across time, in new historical settings but with similar ideologies guiding them.

    Pangloss’ ideas reveal a hidden depth towards the finale: a stoicism lies under the pretense of optimism. And this is the closest to hope this movie has to offer as an antidote to this cruel world we inhabit.

    WHAT THE CRITICS SAY:

    “Never prone to subtlety, the directors fill every frame with surreal twists, slapstick, sexuality, and repellent images. It’s certainly not a happy, upbeat narrative, but they overflow it with dazzling sequences, plus a carnival-on-peyote atmosphere… an impossible-to-categorize, absurdist masterpiece from the demented genius of Jacopetti and Prosperi.”–Steven Puchalski, Shock Cinema

    (This movie was nominated for review by TheRealBpilgrim, who called it “the forgotten Jacopetti and Prosperi film.” Suggest a weird movie of your own here.)

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    It Came from the Reader-Suggested Queue, Shorts

    CAPSULE: LOT IN SODOM (1933)

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    DIRECTED BY: James Sibley Watson,

    FEATURING: Friedrich Haak, Hildegarde Watson, Dorthea House

    PLOT: In ancient Sodom, young men revel in sensual choreography, inspiring the Lord’s anger.

    Still from Lot in Sodom (1933)

    COMMENTS: The first wave of the American cinematic avant-garde developed between 1919 and 1945. According to some of its pioneers, like Herman Weinberg, it encompasses everything except typical Hollywood productions. There is already a review of a compilation of American experimental films ranging from the movement’s early days till the 1970s on this site, which you can check it out if you are interested in learning more about this scene. It is in this context that we examine “Lot in Sodom.”

    This short silent—only about thirty minutes in duration—combines a familiar Old Testament setting with a modernist stylistic approach, diffuse sensuality, and a heavy innuendo. The plot revolves around Lot and his wife, the only honest people in a town full of perverts immersed in immorality. But the narrative isn’t as important as the way it is used to create an atmosphere of depravity. Human—mostly male—bodies dance semi-naked across the screen. The camera is voyeuristic, eager to consume and fetishize their bodies. Along with an underlying hint of violence, “Lot” can be viewed as a predecessor of contemporary performance art in the vein of ” Dead Dreams of Monochrome Men” (1989) .

    In the film’s latter half the female body makes its appearance, similarly sexualized. Through Latin intertitles comparing the woman to a temple and symbolic Bible imagery (a snake, white pigeons), the film implies a sexual climax and an immoral desecration of the female body.

    The scenery, often quite pointy, is a tamer version of German . High contrast black and white lighting, along with distorting effects that multiply figures and objects, create a collage-like, almost cubist aesthetic. Archaic techniques like rear projection and superposition are also used extensively for a similar purpose. When examined in the correct historical context, this work is transgressive and daring. There is a pretense of moralism here, however, which makes it feel a bit dated. “Lot in Sodom” remains important because of its unique stylistic approach, but today its audience is mostly technicians interested in the history of visual effects.

    WHAT THE CRITICS SAY:

    “…one of the weirdest movies of the early 1930s.”–Phil Hall, Film Threat

    (This movie was nominated for review by Sal U. Lloyd, who called it ” Disappointing but weird nonetheless.” Suggest a weird movie of your own here.)

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    Salome / Lot in Sodom

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