L'Inhumaine

1924 sci-fi romance

Rating: 15/20

Plot: At a party at a mansion, several men vie for the attention of an "unusual woman," the titular inhuman one.

This was very high on my "Wanna See" list for a long time, mostly because of this description of its release that I'm quoting from this website (silentology.wordpress.com)

"At each screening, spectators insulted each other, and there were as many frenzied partisans of the film as there were furious opponents. It was amid genuine uproar that, at every performance, there passed across the screen the multicoloured and syncopated images with which the film ends. Women, with hats askew, demanded their money back; men, with their faces screwed up, tumbled out on the pavement where sometimes fist-fights continued."

That just sounds like my kind of movie!

It was actually worth the wait as this was the most Guy Maddin silent film I've ever seen. Well, other than the ones Guy Maddin actually makes, I guess. Russian-style cuts, every special effect from the early-20's cinema effect toolbox, and fantastic set designs combine to make this a consistent visual feast even when the story's dopey melodrama doesn't do much for you.

This doesn't have a lot to do with the actual 1924 version of this Marcel L'Herbier film, but the score on this Lobster Films release of this was one of the weirdest I've ever heard for a silent movie. It was by Aidje Tafial and the Alloy Orchestra, and it was something else. Some day, I might slap this movie on in the background just for that score.

Speaking of music, there are three instances where this silent movie uses music without any sound at all--you know, because it's a silent movie--to heighten tension. One is with a band at the party at the mansion, a mansion with these creepily-masked servants. Another features a guy jamming on a balalaika, and a third is a shot of a phonograph with the title card announcing, "Unexpected music. . .hateful."

And speaking of title cards, this one has some that I have reason to believe are weirdly-translated. Those title cards are as interesting to look at as the rest of this movie. There's a Cubist influence there and in some of the set design, created by a team of designers. The checkered dining room floor in a pool with ducks, a foliage room, and a wild sci-fi laboratory are highlights.

This was sort of a vanity project of an opera singer named Georgette Leblanc. She's not great here, and it's hard to imagine all these fellows crawling and clawing over each other to win her affections. Her story starts fairly grounded with the exception of those strange masked servants. I'll say this--the lady knows how to throw a party. A barrel foot juggler and a fire guy? The storytelling itself is slow, especially in the first half where it seems to take forever for things to get going. The middle bit paced much better, but the climactic scenes where things turn into a fantastical science fiction movie in a beautifully designed laboratory is exhilarating.

I really enjoyed this one, and if that upsets any of you people with screwed-up faces or askew hats, we can meet outside for some fisticuffs.