Black Moon

1975, Louis Malle, France / Germany, 100 min.

Zodiac: Capricorn (symbol of the unicorn)

Louis Malle meets Lewis Carroll in this bizarre and bewitching trip down the rabbit hole. After skirting the horrors of a mysterious war being waged in the countryside, beautiful young Lily (Cathryn Harrison) takes refuge in a remote farmhouse, where she becomes embroiled in the surreal domestic life of an extremely unconventional family. Evocatively shot by cinematographer Sven Nykvist, Black Moon is a Freudian tale of adolescent sexuality set in a post-apocalyptic world of shifting identities and talking animals. It is one of Malle’s most experimental films and a cinematic daydream like no other.

“The movie evokes the dream state without once resorting to the use of fuzzy filters, slow‐motion photography or even lap dissolves. We see everything with the clarity with which Lily observes it, though, unlike Lily, our tendency is to interpret what we see rather than simply to accept it…Black Moon is baffling and beautiful”

—Vincent Canby, New York Times

About Cabaret Cinema: Dreams & Prophecy

Inspired by the Astro Poets, the whimsical astrologers beloved by the Twitterverse, Cabaret Cinema looks beyond the stars of Hollywood to the stars in the sky this summer. Twelve films aligned with the signs of the zodiac ensure there’s something for everyone. Whether you were born under a Black Moon or Sans Soleil, come see what the cinema of the past portends for the future.