Notable Cast: Rosanna Arquette, Jason Robards, Tom Hulce,
Mark Joy, Ron Rosenthal
“We steal if we touch tomorrow. It’s God’s.”
Quite frankly, when Arrow Video announced that they would be
releasing a new Blu Ray release of Black Rainbow, I had very little
expectations. Arrow has recently been tipping their hat in the direction of the
slightly supernatural dramatic thriller, in particular, their release of Apprentice
to Murder works as a perfect double feature with this one, and it’s
something of a lost genre that deserves a bit more attention. Black Rainbow
is a film that ably slides through the various elements of genre, delivering on
just enough dramatic heft, thematic commentary, character study elements, and an
assassination plot to be a thoroughly enjoyable film with just enough layers to
mark its audience. It’s never a film that defines itself as the most stylish or
most intense, but it’s subtlety in its depths and strength in its small moments
make it an overlooked diamond film from the late 80s.
Black Rainbow is a film that one could easily write
off because of its subtle genre-shifting. It never strikes a firm stance in any
one particular genre. Ultimately, it’s a thriller, but that’s such a generic
place to put anything. It’s also a character drama, a supernatural film with
tinges of horror, and it’s a southern gothic tale. The studio obviously had
trouble deciphering what to do with the film because of this, eventually
booting it to cable after letting it soak in a purgatorial release state for a
few years. Having watched it a couple of times, it’s not shocking. Hodges toys
with a lot of very large ideas here, where a young medium (Arquette) finds her
powers shifting from being able to speak with those on the other side to being able to see horrific events that will kill people in the near future. The
supernatural elements are played almost with a nonchalant attitude in the beginning
and it’s only when a reporter starts following her and her manager father
(Robards) around that it digs deeper into the toll of these talents and the
exploitation that goes with them. By the final act of the film, there is a full-on
dream like quality to the film and the film unveils its thoughtful parallels,
concepts, and “naturalistic” insights. It’s a hard film to pin down, but one
that makes attentive watching and analysis a fascinating exercise.
It’s an incredibly loose film in all manners though and that goes along with much of its execution. As mentioned, Hodges plays with the ideas in subtle ways in terms of narrative storytelling, but style goes along with that. This is not a flashy film and even often when it seems natural for the film to lean further into that territory, it actively pulls away from it. The bookends of our reporter looking for Martha, the medium, in the country feel superfluous at first, but oddly come around to pack a punch for example in the reveal. Another one would be Martha’s visions, which are never expressly shown as some directors would have done, but the film allows Arquette to full embrace the emotional burden that they place on her in the moment and often the camera will stick regularly to her face and body as she transverses her abilities. The performances, in general, follow this same tone. The film will often lead the performance in one larger way, but then pull back for a more intimate moment. The relationship between the three main characters is often understated and it leaves the audience filling in gaps which lends a more artistic merit to the material.
The Blu Ray release features a ton of new material,
including a new restoration approved by Hodges, so it was a delight to scan
through it to build more understanding about the film and the overlooked nature
of its existence. As always, my vote for the best feature goes to the
commentary provided by Samm Deighan and Kat Ellinger, which provides incredible
insight, history, and discussion about the film. Truthfully, it’s a must listen
to understand this film and why it is what it is.
Black Rainbow, for all of its unique choices, still
exists as a true cult gem. It’s not a film for everyone as its slow narrative
and refusal to take the path of least resistance makes it a strangely difficult
watch if you’re not invested or unable to buy into its subtle craftsmanship. If
you are willing to leap into it, it’s one hell of a fascinating and fulfilling
cinematic watch. It’s clever in its writing, breaths life into some off beat
generic characters, and adds just a pinch of unusual perplexity to its
execution that keeps the audience with it. Black Rainbow is another
enigmatic surprise that Arrow has brought forth and it comes with a hardy
recommendation.
ARROW VIDEO FEATURES
·
Brand new restoration from the original negative
approved by writer-director Mike Hodges
·
Original stereo 2.0 PCM uncompressed audio and
5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio Surround Sound options
·
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard
of hearing
·
New audio commentary by film historians Kat
Ellinger and Samm Deighan
·
Archival audio commentary by Mike Hodges
·
Message in a Bottle: Archival 'Making of'
documentary
·
Archival interviews with Jason Robards, Tom
Hulce, Rosanna Arquette
·
Archival featurettes '8 Minutes'; 'Disasters';
'Seeing the Future'; 'Behind the Rainbow' featuring interviews with Hodges,
Arquette, Robards, producer John Quested including behind-the-scenes imagery
·
Trailer
·
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly
commissioned artwork by Nathanael Marsh
·
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Booklet featuring new
writing on the film by author Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Mike Hodges and more
illustrated with stills
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