Black Rainbow (1989) Reviews

• There's definitely gold at the end of this rainbow

  Cujo1082010-05-19

  A traveling medium who "performs" in front of large audiences, Martha Travis relays messages from deceased loved ones to their relatives in attendance. Having pushed her into this way of life, her alcoholic father is more than happy to be making (and blowing) the money her shows bring about. One night, however, Martha receives a message from a man who's wife claims he isn't dead. He soon is though, killed just the way Martha had envisioned. Word spreads, and soon skeptical reporter Gary Wallace is on her trail, as is the hit-man responsible for the killing. Black Rainbow is a grimy, slow-burning little southern Gothic. Directed by Mike Hodges, the film is equal parts horror yarn, crime thriller and chastising of fake mediums. Before she begins foretelling deaths, we never are clearly sure if Martha's gift is all an act. Whether it is or not, the image she uses to describe her connection to the afterlife, that of a rainbow, is about to become very blackened indeed. Low key and mysterious, the film is laced with atmosphere that, while often dreary, in reality is quite hypnotic. In a film like this, the characters have to be well-drawn. These are believable, broken people. As Martha, Rosanna Arquette is intensely ethereal. I don't think she's ever looked more stunning, and likewise, I don't think she's ever given a better performance than the one delivered here. She vividly conveys the essence of the character, a woman who turns to sporadic bouts of nymphomania for her only form of gratification. Emotionally worn and hardened by the existence that's been forced on her, Martha lives an empty life giving hope to others while keeping none for herself. Jason Robards plays her father, a louse of a man using his daughter as a cash cow while deriding her every step of the way. Tom Hulce is the cocky reporter, and I recognized the mechanic from The Night Flier as Ted Silas. At one point in the film, Martha is branded a witch due to one of her predictions. The same woman was more than happy to take part in her showings when they were reassuring, but the moment she foresees something bad, the woman does a 180 and puts her down. Ah, good ol' human nature! This leads to Arquette tearing into her final audience with a speech about the affirmation of their own lives through the afterlife. Terrific stuff. Hodges peppers his film with many themes, a key one clearly being the human need for assurance. Under his direction, everything comes together beautifully. One scene is a real stunner, as we bear witness to the force of an unseen explosion. I didn't realize what I was seeing at first, but once it became clear, I had to go back and watch the scene again. A lovely example of creativity through subtlety. Really, despite the run down locations, despite the macabre nature of the proceedings, the entire film has an underlying beauty radiating throughout it. It's a delicate balance, but one that's fully achieved. Wrapping up with an ambiguous ending, the film concludes on a fitting note. This was a great discovery. Never talked about, but utterly satisfying, anyone looking for a real sleeper need look no further. Wonderful film.

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• Very intelligent film, made by Mike Hodges

  ninfilms2004-07-07

  Black Rainbow is like most of Mike Hodges films: Get Carter, Croupier and Terminal Man, very intelligent. It is great performance by Rosanna Arquette best ever. Also Jason Robards and Tom Hulce are also good. I doesn't rely on special effects to tell a story. It is more or less dealing with whether or not (Martha Travis) Rosanna Arquette is telling the truth. What I found interesting is how Hodges creates a psychological atmosphere on what would happen if someone with that psychic power tells you somebody close to you is dead. That is more disturbing than any special effect. It is a shame Black Rainbow didn't get a proper cinema release. According to Mike Hodges on the DVD commentary of Black Rainbow, both the distributors Palace Pictures (UK) & Miramax (USA) were both suffering financially. Palace Pictures only released the in minimum cinemas, because they were on the verge of getting bankrupt. Miramax decided to release it straight to television. My opinion is this is great film and should get a chance, any interested in this film, its out on DVD on Anchor Bay on Region 2

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• Worthwhile Viewing!

  skallisjr2005-05-18

  This is not a film everyone would enjoy. It takes a poke at an old and established con game -- for want of a more precise term, fake mediumship -- and then stands it on its head. Spoilers follow. Before an audience in a mining town, Arquette's character tells various audience members of their losses, while the victims are still alive! She's proved to be wrong, and then, later, the persons die in the manner she describes. This happens more than once. Had she been a local lady, she might have been a murder suspect, or possibly hanged as a witch. The story builds slowly, and each incident just throws another log on the fire, making the atmosphere murkier and more mysterious. The film opens ambiguously and ends the same way. As noted before, not for every taste. But for those with the appropriate taste buds, the taste of this is rich and flavorful.

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• Nice low-budget thriller

  ric-291999-02-21

  Black Rainbow is a low-budget mystery with supernatural overtones, a rare genre that I'm particularly fond of. The sound and the picture quality on the print I saw was not great but was certainly watchable. I really enjoyed the premise: a fake psychic starts actually prophesizing people's deaths -- both the why and how -- which makes her a target for a hit man. Arquette is pretty good in the role -- kind of a mystical and ethereal nymphomaniac and Robards is great as always. The plot meanders a bit and sometimes gets a little slow, but I still enjoyed it. The ending didn't really make a lot of sense to me -- maybe I missed something earlier in the movie -- but I was surprised by this ending and liked it even if though it didn't seem to be supported by the rest of the movie.

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• Unusual and ambitious mix of genres.

  gridoon2004-11-22

  "Black Rainbow" is an uncategorizable film: an unusual and ambitious mix of such different genres as metaphysical horror, corruption/conspiracy thriller, family drama, even a backstage look at the way evangelist/medium "shows" are set up. The mix doesn't always work (the ending, for example, is not consistent with some of the previous events), but the movie is still definitely worth seeing. There are at least two or three brilliant scenes (the most notable of which is, arguably, the way Hodges "films" an explosion without actually showing it), and Rosanna Arquette gives an impressive performance. (***)

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