The viewership of this movie night was nearly double than any previous movie night. What a delightful gathering of old high school chums. After nice pleasantries, I introduced the first film we were to view. The dada film Entre'Acte by Rene Clair.
Rene Clair was a man of his environment. He surrounded himself with members of the dada salon, and when he was hired to create an entre'acte between the acts of a ballet in 1924, he jumped at the chance. This is Rene Clair's first film, but definitely not his last. A famous poet and writer, whose literary achievements along with his film credits landed him a seat in the very exclusive Academie Francaise. The film is completely dada. No meaning. Anti-art. But there are great shots, and innovative film techniques; particularly the roller coaster shots toward the end of the film. It often feels more like experimenting with film techniques and attempting to innovate than a true dada piece (whatever that means). It is evident from his future oeuvre that he enjoyed the filming process and pursued it further to much success. Understanding the large number of heavy hitters that participated in this project, one could come to the conclusion that this was truly a collaborative process. Erik Satie, one of my favorite 19th/20th century composers created a multi-piece score for the the film, although, I'm uncertain that the film we viewed on YouTube had the original score as accompaniment.
The film itself tells no particular story. I jokingly said after the film that is was a metaphor for "the diaspora of the Jewish people." There is a pseudo-story involved where a group of people are prancing around in a processional behind a coffin, as the pacing increases and there are jump cuts and chaos, a chase ensues and the speed of the chariot chase ends with the coffin in a field, the coffin opening up, a magician coming out and vanishing the crowd that comes to the coffin. I admit, I didn't know what to expect from this film. I knew it was going to be a bit perplexing, but I ended up enjoying some parts and feeling my heart race as the pace of the film increased. It was very much what the kids on the Wonkaboat must've felt as the acid trip of a ride continued. Needless to say, watching something that was at the end of the dada movement, and one of the most inventive, odd, creative pieces of cinema history was insightful and educational. I am glad I got to view it with some great people.
* 1/2
And, Forbidden Zone. Well, well, well. What can I say about this film. I remember my friends Ryan showing me a two minute piece of the film, effectively introducing me to this bizarre film. It was an alphabet song number, and I was transfixed. One could say I was giddy. It made an impression on me, and when I found a bluray copy on Amazon, I decided to buy it solely on the merit of those two minutes. When I received the film, it was a U.K. disc, and I started the film to make sure it worked. The titles sequence of the film was wonderful. It was quirky, it was b-movie-esque. I thought it was great. I decided to pick this film, and knowing that it was quirky and weird, I paired it with Entre'acte.
Though the beginning starts out fun enough, it soon crumbles. We watched in black and white, which was how it was originally shown in the few art house theatres that was brave enough to show it. It was directed by Richard Elfman, older brother of famed musician and composer Danny Elfman. Richard, created the original incarnation of Oingo Boingo, but grew tired of the band and decided to make a transition to film making, handing the reins of the band over to Danny (who appears in this film as the Devil). The story goes as such: the Hercules family (comprised of Ma and Pa, Frenchy, Flash, and Grandpa) moves into an old house, whose basement is home to an entryway into the 6th dimension, where bizarre half naked, chained up concubines, queens and former queens and future queens roam. A frog headed servant, a couple of Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum characters, lines of prison cells, and the Devil and the Mystic Knights of Oingo Boingo live and roam free. When Frenchy, goes into the 6th dimension and gets kidnapped by the king for his sexual amusement, members of Frenchy's family come in one by one to find her and bring her back. The family each one more bizarre than the next. You have Frenchy: weird in her French eccentricities, she effectively became French from her trip abroad in France. Ma: A simpleton who sustains a brain injury relatively early in the film and remains catatonic throughout the film, Pa: a man who works in a tar factory between Pico and Sepulveda, who hates his circumstances, and may be mentally retarded, Grandpa: a Bluto-type character with serious rage problems as well as a penchant for sex, Flash: who appears older than Grandpa. He's a overly Jewish man with a copter cap yarmulke. He is amoral, and will give up his plan for sex. The family members are accompanied by Squeezit: (whose sister was already lost in the 6th dimension and a concubine to the midget king, played by Herve Villechaize). Squeezit is loud, a mamma's boy, acts like a chicken, and is afraid of taking a chance. He gets his courage and sacrifices himself for the good of the Hercules family. There are many musical and dance numbers. There is chaos. There are strange characters. There is anarchy.
The saving grace for this film are some of the musical numbers, and you can really hear Danny Elfman's influence on the music. The music numbers are oddly catchy, and in the vein of Broadway numbers, but in juxtaposition to the events of the film confuse the audience. It appears that the gifts of the composer and what he is capable of does not match the bizarre mise-en-scene shown to the audience. I have been known to champion the 'weird' but this doesn't seem to serve a point. It is weird for weird's sake, and not weird to prove a point or weird to expose something deep within ourselves or society. There are bits like the boxing scene that made me chuckle, and the nudity (specifically the princess) made me raise my eyebrows among other things, that I enjoyed, but, overall this movie is like the subconscious gone awry. I must say, I appreciated the film more than the rest of the viewing party, who wish that I wouldn't have subjected them to it, but I would stray away from calling this film brilliant or even good. It's a film, perhaps, that aspired to be the next Rocky Horror Picture Show or Pink Flamingos, much like Repo! The Genetic Opera* attempted to do in the 2000s, but it failed in that regard. I am glad I saw it. It was enlightening and parts were enjoyable, but overall it was, for lack of a better work, claptrap. It is full of cool trivia bits, like the actors who played the king and queen were literally former lovers, but had broken up prior to this film. Another bit, all the actors did the film without being paid. One of the two "Kipper Kids" is married to Bette Midler. This was one of the last movies of Godfather actor Joe Spinell. And this was the first film scored by future, brilliant composer and frequent Tim Burton collaborator, Danny Elfman. Many critics felt that this film was racist, anti-Semitic, and sexist, but I disagree to two of the three. I found myself cringing with a few of the sexist lines or scenes where women were hit or harassed. The blatant nudity was also ever-present and was distracting for me. Of course, many people can argue all three points from both sides quite effectively, but for brevity's sake, I will stop here. If you are feeling bold and are in a weird place, or you're on drugs are are looking for a trippy film, Forbidden Zone is for you. Enjoy!
*
*Repo! was a far worse movie than Forbidden Zone...for the record.
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