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Reviews
I quattro dell'Apocalisse (1975)
Something unique
Fulci had his personal demons. Various documentaries have shown that...but what struck me was the small,almost offhand moments of humanity that litter this film.
The apocalypse...humanity reduced to bare essentials is certainly a calling card of his but,aided by some intimate performances strangely here all is not lost...and whilst Fabio Testi in the closing shot rides out adorned in a black cape seemingly signifying the perennial presence of death,the gothic...whatever you will...the "vagrancy" of happiness soon presents itself in canine form.
...and this is key...to Fulci... turning from one atmosphere,one emotion...even one moral guideline(see how a town of depraved men suddenly and relatedly adorn a newborn) to another is perfectly fine...at the precipice all is possible...this, along with a very singular vision of how to present cinematic images...makes Fulci so devastating...
Willow Springs (1973)
Gothic finds sunlight.
In many ways the review from 2018 (1 star) has a point...but perhaps some level of context is worthwhile.
Firstly this film should be considered within not just the "New German Cinema movement" but also with respect to German cultural tendencies...here I'm considering the tendency to deep reflection and also romantic emotional gesture(which suits the operatic score).
Secondly clearly there is an element of experimentation here...a somewhat freestyle association of plot and cultural reference(dark noir foreboding in a midwestern hotel,Marilyn Monroe,Greek archetypes...and even a James Dean character looking to release the tension...)Such film making is ambitious but doesn't always hit the right note.
Thirdly the director's remarkable eye for a shot aligned to an intense ability to encapsulate beauty...few films offer such such fleeting vital imagery.
...A final thought concerns the last shot where the chief protagonist strays out into the desert,an archetype of destruction forever present in the landscape...similar to Herzog's Harker at the end of Nospheratu riding out?
Syberberg,Herzog,Wenders,Fassbinder and others (including this director) have produced some of the most remarkable and engaging reflections on morality... both personal and national.
We may never see the like again.
El niño de la luna (1989)
Rare excursion into the genuinely visionary in such a commercial decade.
Firstly I'd advise anyone considering watching this title to see "In a glass cage" first...A darker film with difficult subject matter but it gives you a sense of where the directors interests,themes and talents lye.In short...a wonderful eye for composition, a very loose free association with respect to characters motivations and their interactions with each other(in both films its as much the inner fantasy or "true" personal vision of each protagonist that drives forward the plot) and a dark undercurrent of secret societies and cults(very much of the 30s 40s) seemingly able to turn the world and the immediate society they present into a dark twilight where danger and perversion seem ever present.Be clear though ... neither film is sensational or lurid...there is a moral compass at work here and thankfully so.In many ways there's much of the dark fairytale here but how many directors take such material and play it by the numbers until the poetic vision is lost...Villaronga does not...Finally if you like this you might consider "Born of fire" by Dehlavi and "Revenge" by Shinarbaev.
A come Andromeda (1972)
Intelligent european sci fi.
For the avid fan of thoughtful science fiction adaptions(and lets face it there aren't many) this is worthwhile....and while the periphery plot of international espionage is less interesting and characters in authority are a little one dimensional, the casting and acting of the key protagonists is impressive.
Time is given to the scientific debate and steady breakthroughs, whilst an added layer of moral questioning is added by the character Flemming, played to wonderful emotive effect by an Italian actor I'm not familiar with. His desperate discourse with Andromeda in the final episode is particularly affecting.
A final note should be given to the fact that this adaption was released around the same time as three other intelligent euro sci fi efforts, all of which have much to offer...Solaris by Tarkovsky, World on a wire by Fassbinder and a 1974 Italian adaption of The invention of Morel. In each, mysterious "others" played by women seem to lead male seekers to either their doom or salvation. Make of that what you will!