Nuit Noire (Belgium, 2004)


Surrealist director Olivier Smolders wanted to make a film similiar to Lynch's Eraserhead, a masterpiece in the surrealist cinema movement. And if you watch closely, there are quite a lot of things in common between both films, especially the dark scenes and lurky soundtrack. I'll try to explain the plot: the director of a museum for natural science, let's call him Jean, finds a woman in his bedroom one day. She is sick, and soon we discover she is pregnant. Meanwhile, we also learn Jean has some serious pscychological problems. He is obsessed by the fact that his sister died and was attacked by lions. We see some gory scenes which correspond to his nightmares. Jean decides to make a cocoon out of the sick woman. After several days of "incubation", a new woman is born, who becomes his new girlfriend. All along the way, Jean's sister appears and talks to him. What is the connection between his sister's violent death and the new-born girlfriend? It's up to you to find out.

Sans toit ni loi (France, 1985)

Director Agnès Varda has an interest for subjects that involve women. In one of her most famous films, Sans toi ni loi, a young help is found dead in the countryside. From that point on, we go back and see how she lived her last days as a runaway. In all the towns she passes thru, she meets interesting people. Some are more willing to help her than others, but unfortunately the young girl soon loses interest in people, and always decides to move on and find a new town. This is not a feminist film at all, nor does it speak against woman. It is an authentic portray on the life of a teenager who has lost all hope on stability and society in general. We also get to hear the real French countryside accent, since most of the folks were taken from real life. The last scenes are so realistic they can be difficult to watch.