Ostensibly, the film tells the story of Mark (Sam Neill), a spy who returns home to his wife, Anna (Isabelle Adjani) and discovers that she is having an affair. The two quarrel, fight, grind meat, and cut themselves with an electric carving knife, all while trying (poorly) to care for their son, Bob.
Anna leaves, Mark hires detectives to follow her, meets her doppleganger and starts having a twisted relationship with Heinrich, Anna's aforementioned lover.
Set in Cold War West Berlin, the flick has been interpreted as the breakup of a country, as well as a reflection on a bitter divorce. Whatever it is, you have to admire how much everyone involved flat out swings for the fences. It's really not my particular cup of tea (it's a little long and the way it jumps from relationship drama to psycho horror to monster movie can be disorienting), but it's pretty much essential viewing.
My previous exposure to the film was its original video release, which ditched about 30 minutes and made me ponder its cult status. This time out I watched the uncut two-hour version streaming on Shudder, which doesn't make a ton of sense either, but I certainly appreciated it more.
Much is made of Adjani's fearless performance (and rightly so after that subway sequence), but Sam Neill goes above and beyond as the tortured Mark. This was the same year as his portrayal of Satan's spawn Damien Thorn in OMEN III: THE FINAL CONFLICT and a couple years before the tv series REILLY: ACE OF SPIES catapulted him to leading man status.
For an evening that will have you questioning your sanity, pair this up with IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS and EVENT HORIZON.
Next up? ALONE IN THE DARK (1982)! — Dan Taylor
No comments:
Post a Comment