Make no mistake, it’s a confounding experience that will frustrate plenty of viewers.
BLACK RAINBOW MOVIE MOVIE
It’s a movie designed for audiences to get lost in an eerie atmosphere and come out the other side with their own interpretation of what it all was supposed to mean. Not just a case of style over substance, this is a film where the style is the substance. Unfortunately there isn’t really a venue for these movies to play for like minded weirdos these days, because Beyond The Black Rainbow would surely be an instant hit with a certain crowd. Like Daft Punk’s underrated Electroma, Beyond The Black Rainbow recreates the odd wonder and drug enhanced style of past stream-of-conscious mind game movies perfectly. Nope, this is more of a stylistic experiment to get lost in, brining up a variety of evocative themes and ideas purely to be explored in the imagination of the viewer rather than through the word processor of the screenwriter. However, that experience isn’t as frustrating as the one offered by Prometheus given that it’s a style of filmmaking that doesn’t require things to be wrapped up in a fully explored package. Taking his cue from 70s midnight movies like Eraserhead and El Topo, Cosmatos whips up an trip out movie that seems to raise all sorts of existential questions without offering much in the way of answers. Like I said, it doesn’t make a hell of a lot of sense, but boy oh boy does the filmmaker offer a wild ride. The constant tests reveal that Elena has some sort of psychic powers and eventually the good doctor takes a pill promising him answers that come in an almost indescribable drug trip not too far removed from the infamous climax of 2001: A Space Odyssey. She’s told she’s sick by a doctor delving into a variety of personal issues with the girl who gives no response. Barry Nyle (a deeply creepy Michael Rogers). She’s constantly sedated and probed daily with odd questions from Dr. Set in a fictionalized 1983 as imagined by lost 70s sci-fi filmmakers, Eva Allan stars as Elena, a young girl who has been imprisoned by the mysterious institution Arborin for unclear reasons. What Cosmatos does offer as a narrative is a twisted tale of repression, psychological torment, psychic powers, and a truly bizarre alien presence. It’s more of a sensory experience, one that will drill into your brain and dance around in the gooey innards as you look on in confused awe (and yes, that should be considered a good thing). This isn’t a movie that is really about that though. Sure, it doesn’t make a hell of a lot of sense when judged purely on narrative. Cosmatos who brought us Rambo: First Blood Part II and Cobra) has delivered a movie that isn’t just influenced by that special era of dark, twisted, mind fuck science fiction, but has recreated that aesthetic with such a dedicated attention to detail that it’s easy to forget you’re watching a movie that was made today. First time director Panos Cosmatos (son of George P. Well, if you’re someone who loves movies like Alien, THX 1138, Scanners, Silent Running, or Dark Star, then you’re in for a treat. Last week, we all got the opportunity to be disappointed by Ridley Scott’s Prometheus and learned that in the world of franchise-focused contemporary blockbusters there just isn’t room for those 70s sci-fi flicks of yore.
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