I watched this film last week, through Netflix. I ended up doing a lot of fast-forwarding after the first few minutes. I usually like experimental films that take risks, but this does not hang together for me at all. It was bad!
After viewing it, I checked out one of the Leonard Maltin books--they rate it as BOMB. --OK--There are some Maltin "Bombs" that I've actually liked, but this one doesn't hang together. The acting is OK I guess--but the dialog and characters are so silly and unconvincing in their actions and motivations that it all just put me off.
First objection--one of the exceedingly creepy feminist dancers hits Depardieu on the head with a Coke bottle and it breaks into pieces as it knocks him out--COKE BOTTLES DO NOT SHATTER! These bottles are thick and heavy--and they certainly were when this film was made, in 1978. Depardieu's character would have had a fractured skull in any version of "real" life. Right away the viewer thinks that this is a fakey movie.
And then the most sympathetic of the feminist dancers suddenly strips off her clothes and has sex with Gerard in front of everyone else, while he is allegedly unconscious. And then they become lovers and start living together, except that the other dancers start wearing pregnancy costumes under their leotards and then the "girlfriend" becomes pregnant.
Talk about (out)dated!--The feminist dancers are like someone's weird understanding of the "women's lib" literature of years earlier--circa 1968-1970, and the actresses in this movie are years too old to portray the characters they are supposed to be. The ending of this film--what happens to the "monkey" is so bad and amateurish on every level that I'll skip it here--I've seen more convincing special effects in grade school film projects.
--Is this a horror movie or a Roger Corman Drive-In flick? The nuttiness of this film reminds me of another "Bomb" of several years earlier--MYRA BRECKENRIDGE-- wherein stodgy, clueless Hollywood people tried to make a "hip" movie for a younger generation.
Not sure who or why this Monkey film was made--but it never hits the target. Mastrioni and Depardieu are really wasted here, and James Coco's artificial exaggerated style of Broadway acting is always hard to take on film unless there is a convincing reason for it. If you want to watch strange movies, you'd probably do better to check out the "Psychotronic Guide" or something similar.
After viewing it, I checked out one of the Leonard Maltin books--they rate it as BOMB. --OK--There are some Maltin "Bombs" that I've actually liked, but this one doesn't hang together. The acting is OK I guess--but the dialog and characters are so silly and unconvincing in their actions and motivations that it all just put me off.
First objection--one of the exceedingly creepy feminist dancers hits Depardieu on the head with a Coke bottle and it breaks into pieces as it knocks him out--COKE BOTTLES DO NOT SHATTER! These bottles are thick and heavy--and they certainly were when this film was made, in 1978. Depardieu's character would have had a fractured skull in any version of "real" life. Right away the viewer thinks that this is a fakey movie.
And then the most sympathetic of the feminist dancers suddenly strips off her clothes and has sex with Gerard in front of everyone else, while he is allegedly unconscious. And then they become lovers and start living together, except that the other dancers start wearing pregnancy costumes under their leotards and then the "girlfriend" becomes pregnant.
Talk about (out)dated!--The feminist dancers are like someone's weird understanding of the "women's lib" literature of years earlier--circa 1968-1970, and the actresses in this movie are years too old to portray the characters they are supposed to be. The ending of this film--what happens to the "monkey" is so bad and amateurish on every level that I'll skip it here--I've seen more convincing special effects in grade school film projects.
--Is this a horror movie or a Roger Corman Drive-In flick? The nuttiness of this film reminds me of another "Bomb" of several years earlier--MYRA BRECKENRIDGE-- wherein stodgy, clueless Hollywood people tried to make a "hip" movie for a younger generation.
Not sure who or why this Monkey film was made--but it never hits the target. Mastrioni and Depardieu are really wasted here, and James Coco's artificial exaggerated style of Broadway acting is always hard to take on film unless there is a convincing reason for it. If you want to watch strange movies, you'd probably do better to check out the "Psychotronic Guide" or something similar.