Fears of the Dark is scarily scattered
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| FEARS OF THE DARK (PEURS DU NOIR)
April 30, Cinematheque
Palpable dread may be the intended result of France's six-film collection, Fears of the Dark, but only two entries turn out to be any kind of mini-masterpieces.
The film pools together the considerable artistic talents of Americans Charles Burns and Richard McGuire, Italian charcoal illustrator Lorenzo Mattotti, and, from France, Blutch, Marie Caillou, and Pierre di Sciullo to form a unique black-and-white animated horror anthology.
Blutch, a cartoonist by day, doles out his sickly contribution throughout the film's 80- minute running time. In a way, his story of a severe military master and his savage dogs is the engine that drives this idiosyncratic picture.
Another recurring motif is an abstract animation by di Sciullo. Over moving blobs of congealing figures, a female voiceover lists a litany of fears. As a Rorschach inkblot test come to life, it's the most literal clip of the bunch - and the most unsatisfying.
Then, the first notable outing: a Cronenbergian work of eye-catching anxiety by Charles Burns, the graphic novelist of Black Hole fame. It tells the tale of a friendless young man pining for a girlfriend, and then landing one with a terrifying entomological secret.
Obvious odes to EC comics notwithstanding, this 15-minute short trades in thematic elements crucial to Burns' work in other art-forms: namely, perverse sex affecting its inexperienced hero. Narrated in character by the since-deceased Guillaume Depardieu - son of Gerard - the work engenders feelings of panic brilliantly.
Marie Caillou's piece is the most ineffectual. Distinctly Japanese in influence, it focuses on a schoolgirl humiliated by bullies and haunted by a past that soon catches up with her.
Mattotti's segment deals with more traditional horror, as a grown man revisits his village in adulthood to relive the memories of a monster that once terrorized his childhood. While marginally successful, it pales in comparison with the final installment: a wordless, bone-chilling haunted-house tale by comic book artist Richard McGuire.
McGuire references conceptual details of the horror genre that have been passed down through the decades: pitch-black darkness, limited sightlines, creaky floors and rusty hinges in musty homes, and the ethereal presence of something suggestive.
This nail-biter alone makes Fears of the Dark worth your time.
— Aaron Graham |
Uptown
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