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Black Moon



Louis Malle meets Lewis Carroll in this bizarre and bewitching trip down the rabbit hole. After skirting the horrors of an unidentified war being waged in an anonymous countryside, a beautiful young woman (Cathryn Harrison) takes refuge in a remote farmhouse, where she becomes embroiled in the surreal domestic odyssey of a mysterious family. Evocatively shot by cinematographer Sven Nykvist, Black Moon is a Freudian tale of adolescent sexuality set in a postapocalyptic world of shifting identities and talking animals. It is one of Malle’s most experimental films and a cinematic daydream like no other.

Disc Features

- New high-definition digital restoration (with uncom­pressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
- Archival interview with director Louis Malle
- Gallery of behind-the-scenes photos
- Alternate French-dubbed soundtrack
- Original theatrical trailer
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- PLUS: A new essay by film scholar Ginette Vincendeau

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It is a shame this is getting buried underneath the other June release threads. By far Malle's most personal and interesting movie. It's pure fantasy, but done in such a understated, realistic sort of way. The presence of Little Joe probably helps since I connect him with Paul Morrisey's films, but I still think there's something special going on in the film making department, including cinematography from art house favorite Sven Nykvist.

A lot of weird things happen, and pretty much nothing is ever explained, but it kind of doesn't matter as Malle's presentation is the real star. It's hard for me to avoid a comparison to Gummo or various Herzog projects, but if you are fond of such films, this is a must-see.

I am very intrigued by this. I have only just started getting into Malle's movies. I watched Murmur of the Heart and Lacombe, Lucien. I found both of them good, but preferred Murmur of the Heart. I am still very disappointed that Criterion decided not to upgrade the whole boxed set to Blu. I suppose the intention to release Black Moon and Zazie dans le métro must have played a part.

How does this compare to Paul Morrisey? Mostly in style? I was hoping that I can expect a story and characters with a bit more depth, if that makes sense?

How does it compare to Gummo? I haven't seen this in ages, but remember that it had quite the impact on me back then.

It's region-free!

It's probably a screener, i wouldn't count on it being region free.

It's a mistake, it's region-A only. I emailed him about it. Also the 2 sets of English subtitles: 1 is English SDH (for the original English track) and 2 is the English translation of the French dubbed track.

Schwartzman wrote:How does this compare to Paul Morrisey? Mostly in style? I was hoping that I can expect a story and characters with a bit more depth, if that makes sense?

How does it compare to Gummo? I haven't seen this in ages, but remember that it had quite the impact on me back then.

I might describe it as Jean Rollin adapting Alice in Wonderland. I wouldn't equate it to either Morrisey or Korine. It's certainly a departure from any other Malle films, although that doesn't mean a whole lot considering the variance of his output.

Black Moon and Zazie are probably my two favorite Malle films, so I'm pretty stoked that these are coming out on blu.

In response to the general disappointment in Criterion's depth of analysis with this release, I recommend (if you lisez the français) Georgiana Colville's 1996 article in The French Review (69:3). I have a pdf file, and while the French is moderately easy to read, the article itself is, I believe, more in-depth and insightful than what is available in the booklet or on the Blu/DVD.

Watched this last night and absolutely loved the look and feel of the film, which really comes through on the excellent BluRay transfer. Don't try to think too hard about the content of the film, however, as it's basically a farrago of pretentious claptrap and readymade symbols of male / female conflict (presumably some kind of personal exorcism for Malle), but if you let it wash over you it's easy to enjoy on a purely imagistic level.

The extras (a brief contemporary television interview padded out with low-fi film extracts) are very scanty, and this is a film that could have greatly benefitted from some critical decoding / defending.

My first viewing of Black Moon was tedious to finish, but on subsequent viewings I gave up on solving Malle's puzzle and let the surreal dreaminess of it all seep into my mind. I think the parts are greater than the whole.

I found this film devoid of much suspense, because it's never clearly defined what the stakes are for our protagonist. The only moments of genuine suspense occur early in the film, with Lily on the run from the male army soldiers, then deflates once she reaches the "sanctuary" of the estate. Her quest to talk to a sassy unicorn did not have me on the edge of my seat.

Despite my criticism I do like having this title as a part of my collection.

zedz wrote:Don't try to think too hard about the content of the film, however, as it's basically a farrago of pretentious claptrap .

I would agree with that if Malle were trying to force some deep significance out of the story. Maybe it did have more significance for him, but he's clearly not shoving "meaning" down the viewer's throat. Kind of like David Lynch. Inscrutable yes, but not pretentious.

Does anyone know why the subtitles in some sequences were markedly different from what was being said? Did that come from translating from the French dubbed version or was there some other reason?