Darkly Noon - Le jour du châtiment

Honestly, this movie gave me the creeps. The intense psychological symbolism going on in it really makes for a total mind-candy movie. It takes you on a journey through the deconstruction of a young man's mind through conflict with his religious beliefs and outright lies. You once again get a new facet of Brendan Fraser's acting ability during his portrayal of the tortured Darkly Noon. The movie is absolutely chilling. I recommend it, if you're into movies that make you think. It may be hard to get, Blockbuster had to order it for me.

The weirdly named Darkly Noon (Brendan Frasier) is the sole survivor of a Waco-style massacre and a religious fanatic. He is taken in by Ashley Judd, who lives in a isolated cabin in a huge forest. The first set of tensions come when Noon's strong attraction towards Judd clash with his religious beliefs. The second arise when Judd's mute boyfriend Viggo Mortensen returns. And then hermit Grace Zabriskie befriends Noon and tells him Judd is a witch.

This is pretty impressive stuff from writer and director Philip Ridley. He's not afraid to risk being pretentious and, in truth, he is at times. Mostly, though, he creates an unsettling, powerful piece with the texture of a nightmare. Surreal at times (a giant, glittering boot floating down a river?) it conveys the powerful and enigmatic nature of both human emotions and the unexplored forest. It's clear that things are going to end bloody but, crucially, you can't guess for who; because at times it seems the coquettish Judd might be a witch.

I stumbled upon this movie years ago and only recently was I reminded of how great this movie was. Brenden Frasier and Ashley Judd were totally unknown to me at the time so I can't really compare any of their more recent works to this movie, but I can tell you that this movie has stayed with me for more than 6 or 7 years. I can't understand why anyone wouldn't be drawn in to the madness that is Darkly. His innocence alone would pull you in and beg for your compassion. I don't care what anyone else tells you, if you truly love great writing and movies that get to you where no other ones can, then you have to see The Passion of Darkly Noon. It's a dark thriller with a fabulous one-sided love story tragedy. Maybe I'm just biased for emotionally disturbing thrillers with twisted story lines that are not so far fetched that you can't relate on some levels.

This is a very different film. Beautiful, surreal, it has a dream-like quality with stark echoes of Ridley's equally beautiful "Reflecting Skin". It is an odyssey into a waken dream which is not to be taken as real, but as some kind of fairy tale. Ridley himself is not one of those Hollywood hacks that would be lost without their million-bucks equipment, but a true artist in the noble sense of the word, with a universe of his own (as anybody who saw his "American Gothic" paintings, a direct inspiration to his two films, or his play "Pitchfork Disney" would understand. Experience it for yourself.

This is an unusual film. The summary above does a fair description of the plot, but what it doesn't describe is the air of magic around the forest and everyone's encounters within it. It's hard to describe this, except to say that the film both brings you together with one character's descent into madness while also introducing you to people who seem as though they stepped right out of a story book.

At times, it has the feel of some children's tale of a lost soul wandering through the woods, encountering various odd characters. Some are endearing, some are frightening. The difference is that this isn't a children's tale, and the emotions and imperatives are being experienced by adults, though not always with a mature sense of self-control.

Ashley Judd is both eerily wistful and intensely sensuous as a young lady seemingly without any concept of shame or self consciousness, and deeply in love. Brendan Fraser does a credible job of portraying an inexperienced, painfully conflicted child-man and seems to sweat this tension from every pore.