Saturday, January 26, 2019
585 - Black Moon, France, 1975. Dir. Louis Malle.
Lily has gone down some kind of rabbit hole.
Only instead of following a rabbit down here, she seems to have arrived by having run over a badger in her car.
She seems to have entered a world where the battle of the sexes has taken on literal meaning. All are dressed in fatigues--except those hiding in Resistance. The men are fighting the women, and the women fighting the men. And no one is winning. Or maybe in her mind the women are losing.
She takes refuge in an old farmhouse on an old farm.
Where she meets a young man named Lily and a young woman named Lily. Brother Lily and Sister Lily. And the Old Lady. And all those children. Living as they were born.
Not to confuse you. There just happen to be four protagonists in story, and three of them are named Lily. This is not the Lily we know. This is some other Lily.
Brother Lily communicates through tactile touch. His fingertips kneading human muscle. Reverse Braille of the skin. Who needs English when you have chirapsia?
Lily understands him.
And speaks back. She does need English. Though she is French.
Sister Lily communicates with her eyes. Through gaze.
The Old Lady talks. Clearly sometimes. At other times in gibberish. Or in hushed tones. It depends on to whom she is speaking. Whether to Lily. Or to Brother Lily or Sister Lily. Or to someone on the other end of the ham radio. The wireless, as they call it. Or to her rat Humphrey. Her closest companion.
Dear Animal Wranglers,
We shall require the following animals for our film. Trained.
Ants, centipedes, grasshoppers, beetles, snakes, rats, hawks, eagles, turkeys, badgers, sheep, pigs, hogs, horses.
And a unicorn.
Thank you.
Lily is in search of the unicorn. Which stays always just beyond her grasp. Or what's a heaven for?
Until she steps on the flowers. And it chastises her. While eating the flowers.
But the unicorn reflects her quest. Her super objective.
Dear Costume Designers,
We shall not be requiring your services for our children at this time, as they shall not be wearing costumes. Except for the two who sing Wagner. Tristan und Isolde. But we shall take care of them. You are free to pursue employment on another film.
Thank you.
One might take the time to attempt an explanation of the meaning of the film, but this might not prove to be a fruitful process.
Perhaps Brother Lily and Sister Lily are complementary altar-egos of Lily and a hopeful fusion of the male and female in the midst of an otherwise male and female warfare.
Etc.
But Louis Malle might not have put too much thought into that. It is a visceral experience.
Dear Actresses,
Please begin lactating before arriving to set. Your skills will be required.
Thank you.
John Steinbeck published his novel The Grapes of Wrath on April 14, 1939. With its unforgettable final moment.
Louis Malle taps into that image here thirty-six years later.
So if Rose of Sharon, Rosasharn, provides life support in that story.
Perhaps Lily of the Valley provides it in this one.
* * * *
Alexandra Stewart plays Sister Lily. She appeared in the original Les dangereuses (1959). And Tarzan the Magnificent (1960). And Exodus (1960). And Jean-Luc Godard's Ro.Go.Pa.G. (1963). We have seen her a few times before now. In Malle's The Fire Within (1963), Truffaut's The Bride Wore Black (1968), and Truffaut's Day for Night (1973)
Cathryn Harrison plays Lily. She is Rex Harrison's granddaughter.
* * * *
Who's Humphrey?
You mean the rat?
Did you ever fight?
I loved him, you understand? My sweet thing.
Willy Boy, Willy Boy, where are you going?
I will go with you if I may
I'm going to the meadow to see them a mowing.
I'm going to help them make the hay.
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