The following disc is available March 24th from Arrow Video (www.arrowvideo.com – www.facebook.com/ArrowVideo/) as a Special Edition Blu-ray.
You know your thriller probably isn’t cut from the same cloth as others when it is set at an isolated farmhouse in the middle of a North Carolinian forest, features a disparate assortment of oddball characters (including a religious zealot, a mute, and a beautiful woman deemed by some to be an evil temptress), a pair of bullet-ridden spectral entities, an elephant, and an enormous shoe floating down a river. When it comes to presenting a truly unique vision, The Passion of Darkly Moon is as original and surreal as they come.
This movie from writer/director Philip Ridley (The Reflecting Skin) was met with confusion during its original and very limited theatrical release. Just about every element was criticized as being over-the-top or bizarre. However, enthusiasts of the feature have emerged over the years, stating that the title is a misunderstood, surreal masterpiece. Personally, I don’t ever remember it playing at theaters in the mid-90s, and figure those who did must have caught up with it on DVD (now long out-of-print). Arrow Video are finally making the movie readily available to all, presenting the film on Blu-ray with a new 2K restoration filled with bonus features.
The film opens with a lost and wounded Darkly Noon (Brendan Frasier) stumbling through a forest. After passing out on a road, he is collected by delivery man Jude (Loren Dean), who makes trips to a nearby farmhouse and collects coffins there that are manufactured by Clay (Viggo Mortensen). Jude takes Darkly to the farm. Clay isn’t there, but his significant other Callie (Ashley Judd) agrees to care for him. When Darkly awaits, he explains that he has come from a religious compound and had to escape during a government raid that killed his parents. The sweet, good-natured Callie sees that the young man is lost, alone, completely out-of-his-element and in need of support. However, Darkly’s extremist religious upbringing leads him to develop feelings for Callie that quickly escalate into violent actions.
Admittedly, this is an extremely strange film and I came into it knowing little or nothing about the story. Visually, it’s quite beautiful to look at, with exaggerated environments ranging from the dense forest to folksy interior farmhouse sets. Yellow light shines through windows and everything has a blown-out, almost dreamlike and hallucinogenic quality. The approach does take some getting used to. There isn’t a lot of background information given about the leads or what is happening in the world around them. All of the performers are excellent, but the lack of detailed information early on lends a certain strangeness to the proceedings. Especially given some of the bizarre sights on display (including the aforementioned shoe).
However, while it took a good 20 minutes for this viewer to become accustomed and immersed in the unique world, once the story develops and its themes and motivations came into sharper focus, the film begins to work. As Darkly becomes more frustrated by his feelings towards Callie and his mind begins to fracture, he meets a woman living in a camper named Roxy (Grace Zabriskie). Deeply religious, she has a past with Clay and Callie, calling her neighbor a witch and blaming her for the dissolution of her marriage that made her husband “lose control”. Despite the truth being something quite different (it is revealed that Roxy’s husband actually assaulted an innocent Callie), her accusations fall in line with Darkly’s deeply held religious beliefs, ultimately leading him on a frightening rampage.
At the end of the day this ends up being a movie about religious extremism and how it can twist a mind. The unusual characters all stand out in different ways. Frasier in particular is very good at adding a layer of empathy to the deeply disturbed Darkly. He transforms from a stammering and fearful new arrival into a jealous and vengeful figure, eventually convincing himself that his terrible acts are merely to serve his Lord and Savior. Mortensen also has plenty to do, communicating only through expressions and movement. And Zabriskie is always fun to watch, playing the Bible-thumping Roxy with entertaining verve.
This a really effective and completely original arthouse horror title that ended up impressing me. Some of the images on display are quite incredible and the editing techniques result in a few punchy and effectively jarring moments, alongside several artful and intriguing montages. The movie is all the more remarkable considering how little money it was made for. Of course, those who pick up the Arrow Blu-ray will not only be impressed by the cleaned up, widescreen picture, but will also get to learn more about the film and how it came together through a series of great bonus features.
The first extra is a new audio commentary with writer/director Philip Ridley. He explains what inspired the film, as well as his personal process for creating stories for the screen and stage. Ridley also details how much the original script had to be scaled back when the production’s funding was significantly cut. In the end, he only had a few weeks to shoot his project, and was forced to chop out an opening set at Darkly’s religious compound. The filmmaker also notes that while there were many visually striking moments, the crew didn’t have the money for much of the equipment being used. He was able to borrow a Steadicam for a few hours, and had only a couple of takes to shoot a lengthy dialogue scene using the goods. The same was true for an impressive split-diopter shot; a lens was borrowed for a few hours in order to acquire the striking image. And he admits that the climax, featuring a burning set with real flames, was incredibly dangerous to film around and probably couldn’t be done today.
You can also watch the film with an audio track that contains the score. A few never-before-heard cues are also inserted in scenes without music. And there’s a 2015 featurette containing interviews about the film with Philip Ridley, Viggo Mortensen and composer Nick Bicât. Viewers will learn that Mortensen really enjoyed collaborating with Ridley and wishes that they had could have more opportunities to work together. He also goes into his method acting approach; he decided to not speak to anyone and remained mute for the entirety of the shoot.
In addition, there is a new interview with cinematographer John de Borman. This was one of his first pictures (he has since gone on to lens The Full Monty, Shall We Dance, An Education and many others), and he describes his creative relationship with Ridley. Borman also goes into detail about how, on one occasion, he was finally able to trick Mortensen into speaking (he told the cast member lies about his favorite soccer team, Arsenal).
And there are more interviews. Editor Leslie Healey offers some insights on his experiences, as does composer Nick Bicât. The musician reveals that he composed music prior to the production and that the writer/director would use his pre-recorded tracks on-set to inspire actors and help them find appropriate locations for the shoot. He also explains how they managed to talk artist PJ Harvey into performing a song for the film, titled Who Will Love Me Now?
The Passion of Darkly Moon is a truly unique film that was a bit ahead of its time and impressed me more and more as it progressed. The excellent Blu-ray, which presents the film with a pristine image and informative bonuses, is quite a revelation. Writer/director Philip Ridley now spends most of his time working on stage productions, but hopefully this release will inspire more to check out his work, and encourage the artist to return to cinema once again. The film world can always use more unique voices sharing their thoughts and ideas in an original and creative.