Black moon
A woman driving down a country road strikes a badger. She is then confronted by a road block of gas mask wearing stormtroopers. Eventually she is forced off road and makes her way to a chateu where she is confronted by a bed ridden, infantalised old woman fixated on breasts and her two children. She also begins to persue an elusive unicorn.
Louis Malle's surrealist drama is a difficult film to pidgeonhole beyond pointing out its firm rooting in European surrealism. Its starts out as a dystopian sci-fi, with warring paramilitary stlye shock troops. As the young female protagonist heads further 'in country' the film then becomes more of a folk horror. Half the cast seem to be animals, the actuial dialogue is minimal and makes little sense when it occurs. If anything it appears to be a pouring out of the subconcious onto celluloid and the end result is baffling if not strangely compelling.
The Magician
Max von sydow plays Dr Vogler, the head of a travelling troupe called Vogler's Magnetic Health Theater, who travel the country putting on shows of mesmerism and magic, as well as selling various health remedies to the crowds. Detained at Stockholm as they cross the border, Vogler and his troupe are detained by the authorities and forced to demonstrate their 'abilities'. The rational authorities are not only skeptical, subscribing to modern scientific principals but also condecending and outright rude and hostile to their guests. Vogler, driven to anger at this concocts a revenge that is genuinely sinister.
Its best to go into Bergmansd film not knowing what to expect. It was my first time with it having picked up the criterion Blu-ray at a good price. I can happily reccomended the film as one of his best. While not actively promoting superstitions, the film is scathing of people who actively dismiss the imagination and the comforts superstitions can bring. It's also a brilliant piece of misdirection with a revenge scheme that is genuinely well played and feels worthy of the great final scenes of films like Les Diaboliques.
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