Phenomena
 |
Jennifer Connelly has said that Phenomena (or Creepers
in some circles) is her worst film, one she isn’t proud of. It enraged Dario /
horror fans because her tone seemed to indicate that this was some sort of
elitist stab at those the film attracts/appeals to. Her role is similar to that
of Suzy Bannion in Suspiria. She’s an
American who goes to a European school for girls and becomes entangled in a
nightmarish series of events because of a serial killer of teen girls. Because
the film is directed by Argento and is quite violent, I guess it’s reasonable
to say Connelly would select it as a film worthy of scorn to be shunned. I think
the movie’s nuts and enjoy it just the same.
Connelly has a gift. Insects seem to have some sort of
“bond” with her. She loves them and they seem to love her. Connelly will need
their support at the end when evil threatens her very life. Also similar to Suspiria, Connelly finds a roommate and
friend who will be a victim of the killer. While Phenomena utilizes the supernatural as the likes of Suspiria and Inferno (allowing him a
freedom in storytelling he might not have if directing a giallo thriller), it
uses not only a Claudio Simonetti score in close relation to Goblin, but also infuses his film with heavy metal (Iron Maiden or Motorhead, for
instance). Some consider this music choice a bit jarring. I guess the first
time it did me, too, but I have since gotten used to it.
Connelly sees a young girl get killed while under a type of
sleepwalking. It seems like (or at least the directorial approach and how
Connelly portrays it) she’s under a type of trance that wills her to the
location where the girl is killed (a type of steel “spear” goes through her
head and out her mouth), with Connelly nearly killed after the balcony she’s
walking breaks out from under her. Catapulting to the bushes, Connelly, while
still disoriented and out of sorts, walks into the street of a nearby town, is
hit by a car carrying two tourists, is difficult with them for she believes
they are perhaps about to hurt her, and soon spills out the passenger side door
down a hill leading to Pleasence’s home. So, like Suzy Bannion of Suspiria, her life is potentially
harmed thanks to the new environment’s possible unknown terror.
I’m not sure why it stood out to me, but I noticed that,
particularly in the night scenes, wind blows heavily. Notice trees and hair
during scenes like the opening kill with the 14-year-old girl as the bus leaves
her behind, Connelly visiting Pleasence’s abode when she gets lost after being “discarded”
from the car of the two tourists who hit her, or when Connelly’s
pal meets her boyfriend for a secret rendezvous. This wind, heavy and
ever-present, along with music from Claudio Simmoneti (just the same way) made
for a very interesting aesthetic. I miss this Dario, I must admit.
While watching Phenomena,
I did feel this is as close to Carrie
as Argento would get. The power of a young woman is uncaged thanks to the
ridicule and belittlement of her peers. The faculty does little to stop the
girls from mocking and heckling Connolly, and this encourages Connolly’s wrath.
Insects gain en masse outside the school building and windows, ready to be
unleashed on the girls bullying and abusing Connolly. It was a like a flick of
the switch. It would just take her urging and the insects (flies, mostly) would
have been all over them girls. They're lucky she’s not malevolent. One of the
teachers who loathes Connolly nicknames her “Lady of the Flies”, comparing her
to Beelzebub.
Connolly has one major ally: Pleasence. He believes in her
power, notices how his insects react to her, and has even written a book on communicating
with them. He considers them potentially telepathic with great sensory
perception. He has a “flesh-eating fly” named the “sarcophagus” that he
believes will lead Connolly to the killer because of maggots found in one of
his/her gloves left at the scene where her roommate had been executed. She is
sent on her way, following her fly, and will know where the former lair of the killer is
located because it will “go crazy” upon the location (maggots seem to be always
near the psychopath so the fly will guide her to him/her). The general area is
established because of a point where the tourist who was beheaded had been last
seen. It provides a starting place. Blueprints are almost confiscated by Connolly but a real estate agent interferes. These blueprints are actually important because another house (the new home of the psychopath) has latches that function as a "lockdown", with Connolly certain to be ensnared in that place.
While obviously working without a net creatively, the film
allows Dario to use the supernatural while telling a giallo-type story.
Pleasence’s lone collaboration with Dario, for me, was a real treat and he had
a part that allowed him to provide a quiet, introspective performance that isn’t
reduced to hysterics because he’s a clinical but humane intellectual/scientist.
It is a part I truly enjoy. Too often, after this film (and sometimes before
it), Pleasence has roles that called for him to display hysterics and while I’ve
been honest that I have a tendency to enjoy that sort of kabuki theater, I
prefer him in calm tone unveiling what he feels without all the sound and fury.
I love his performance in Halloween because you know what is going on behind
his eyes and only when the film calls for him to relay the importance in being
fearful and serious about what Haddonfield has before them does Pleasence shout
aloud to those that seem apathetic to his pleas for catching a killer in their
midst. In Phenomena, he’s a cripple
in a wheelchair who admits to suffering emotionally because of his treatment
from others who seem to consider him worthless or a nut. He has warm moments
with Connolly, offering humane affection and a sympathetic ear. He knows
following the fly could place her in danger and no doubt if he could walk he’d
help her. It is too bad Pleasence couldn’t have a more active role during the
investigation but it does allow Dario to have fun with a monkey (the monkey is
really cool and helps him often; the trick with the light and how the monkey
pushes his wheelchair for him are two neat instances).
The ending just gets more and more bizarre (if the thing
with Connolly and the insects wasn’t enough), with Daria Nicolodi (who for most
of the running time is an employee of the school responsible for Connolly) drably
reminding me of Mama Bates as dressed by Norman going apeshit while a boy
monster of hers is freed to try and kill Connolly when she retreats to a boat
in a lake. As is often the case, Nicolodi gets it real good. In a hilarious
coincidence, the monkey of Pleasence’s just happens to find a clean, glistening
strait-razor in a garbage container while rummaging for nourishment. That
monkey will get revenge on its master’s spear-murder. With Connolly always at
odds with an unhinged Nicolodi (who attacks a police detective arriving at her
residence with some questions after visiting an institution with padded cells),
and now a monster boy with maggots always on its person to deal with, the film
throws a lot at the viewer…your tolerance for these strange developments will
determine whether or not you find this fun. Connolly, sure enough, calls on her
flies and they form a wave in the sky, about to converge on the boy. In her new
house, Nicolodi had a dungeon with a pool containing bits and pieces (and
skeletal remains) of victims! For those who recall the ending of Mother of Tears, there’s a scene in Phenomena where Connolly falls into
that “body pool”. The detective tries to help her, breaking a hand so he can
get his hand out of a shackle, and put a stop of Nicolodi (by this point, she’s
raving mad) once and for all.
Connolly was a beautiful young woman, and Dario knows it.
While I never felt he really sexualizes her, he knows that his camera adores
her. The performance is rather lacking (she’s like a blank sheet of paper), but
she’s photogenic and Dario knows exactly how to shoot her with his camera. This
is one of the last films of his “great period”, and I miss the look of film so
I lament the loss of its use. This is a long film, and Dario insists on adding
a little bit of everything. Violence by steel spear, odd characters, insects,
monkey, a school full of bratty girls, maggots, a monster boy, a psycho mother,
heavy metal, lots and lots of wind, close ups of rotted skulls, severed limbs,
a father never available to his daughter when she needs him the most (he’s a
popular actor), sleepwalking, and beheadings. It’s quite the horror show.
Comments
Post a Comment