This movie has plenty, but for me, I think it's the breast-feeding old lady.
sharehow about the naked children appearing sporadically throughout the film cavorting and herding a humongous pig around...probably the brother and sister's kids...can you imagine someone reading these comments that hadn't seen the film???
shareYep, I've gotta agree... That scene was a jaw dropping moment.
Just when I thought the movie couldn't get much stranger they
showed me how very, very wrong I was.
This is one of the most peculiar movies I've ever seen - sort of
"Alice in Wonderland" meets "The Naked Lunch". It was described
in the TV listing as a futuristic war between the sexes, that's
why I reccorded it. I didn't get that, except for the brother and
sister dualing after he assassinates the eagle, (let someone who
hasn't seen the movie try to figure that out). What I saw instead
was a very long and surreal nightmare. I'd love to see the screen-
play for this movie (if they even used one); almost no dialog but
hours of confusing, vividly bizarre imagery.
I'll never understand the appeal of movies like this. I go to the
movies for a quick escape from reality, not for a psychotic break
from reality. But I'll probably get my friend to watch the tape,
(we sat through "Eraserhead" together); he'll never believe me if
I just say I've found the second strangest movie he'll ever see.
I agree that this movie is too bizarre and pretentious. I also wrote a scathing review of it. The most irritating part for me was the stupid bit with the alarm clocks. TOO LOUD and pointless and went on much too loooooooong. My EARS!!!!! After Lily gave up trying to turn them off she starts heaving them out the window. Was Malle making the oh so CLEVER point "Time Flies"? And the brilliance of having all the characters named Lily. " Is you name not lily? Well how about if we CALL you Lily so we can be clear. New Lily do you like cheese?" Appoloogies to Monty Python
shareOh yeah, the naked kids herding the huge pig. Maybe that is the weirdest part. I just kept thinking that most kids would too modest to do that. Maybe they're from a nudist colony or something.
Remember when the young woman picked up the old woman? Well it seemed to me that as she was cradeling her she suddenly was the size of a doll! Were my eyes playing a trick on me or what?
I was initially interested in this movie for the description that was given: A war between men and women. How misleading that was!
oh yeah, sirleucelot, I was going to come back and add that...the bit about Lily carrying the old lady and she looked like a doll...that was freakin WEIRD! Oh and also, the ending was pretty strange too...I guess I fell asleep before the end cos I don't remember seeing it the first time..I watched a second time tuning in and out. Soo, perhaps the lip slurping pony/unicorn was the old lady (not much point getting too analytical). I still think all this must sound pretty funny to someone who hadn't seen the film..no worries about "spoilers"!
shareok, a new weird moment in the film though one could just make a list from start to finish...it's comprised of 'strange parts'. This week after viewing the beginning of the film the other night (I think I've finally seen the whole thing)...one of the very first scenes...the girl is hauling ass in her little car approaching a badger sniffin around on the road (close up shot of the poor animal) and BAM! she runs right over it! That freaked me out! I hope the filmaker didn't really sacrifice the life of an animal for the sake of getting the shot...did they have humane organizations monitering 'cruelty to animals' in films in 1975?
shareI was dismayed at that part two, I'm an animal lover >_>. But I don't think it was a real badger because at the instant it's runover, the scene does a new angle and it looks like it's a fake. There's no blood, and the way it's sort of dragged looks like it was made of rubber under the fur. At least, that's what I'm going to believe.
Each instant is my universe,
Which at a nod may fade again.
-Walter de la Mare
That's right. I was sure they wouldn't do that to an helpless animal and when I ran it back on slow mo it's obviously a stuffed animal in the new angle. What the heck does this have to do with the movie? Nothing and everything! It sets the tone for the rest of the movie: consistently nonsensical. If that scene bothered you I suggest that you do not watch The Brothers Grimm.
shareIf someone was troubled by the fake badger snuffing at the beginning, they definitely ought not hang out for the bird decaptition scene at the end. I have to say that the first 15 minutes of the film were by far the most interesting to me, things took an immediate downturn once she first gazed upon the farmhouse. I'd have vastly preferred a noir/postapocalyptic film, as I momentarily hoped for when I saw how Lily was dressed at the beginning of the film.
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Don't feel TOO bad for the badger...at least he didn't have to watch the movie!
"the naked kids herding the huge pig. Maybe that is the weirdest part. I just kept thinking that most kids would too modest to do that."
Seriously??? In a movie filled with weird images including talking flowers, a young woman suckling an old woman and attempting to suckle a unicorn, etc., etc., the weirdest thing is some children playing in their natural state? Children love being naked and free until and unless psychologically disturbed adults convince them otherwise. They are not naturally "modest".
I find it interesting that the most vehement critics of nudity are religious fundamentalists, who have somehow missed the symbolism in their own bible story of Adam and Eve.
The appeal of movies like this is they make you think. It's not just what the filmmakers intended (even if they disagree), but it's also about what you see in the movie. There is a lot of imagery and metaphors there.
shareI'll go with the breast feeding the old lady also. I just saw it on FX and its beyond weird, I think it might have been in the days that strange was considered art. The other thing about the breast feeding is I think the girl was only 16 when they shot this.
shareThe refilling glass of milk and the pig yelling Milk or something...That was the very first thing that weirded me out...unicorns I can pass but that was weird as *beep* I have to say when the Daughter Lilly Breastfeeds the Old Woman...My girlfriend was like WTF...
shareI would have to definately say it is the old lady suckeling on the girls.
shareIts a non sensical movie, you would need help interpreting it.
I would say the strangest part is at the end when they show a long shot of the outside of the houes and the front yard is filled with turkeys and sheep.
The other stuff is weird too, but I could kind of guess there is a meaning to it. That shot with the sheep and turkeys just baffles me.
This did have some strange parts to it. If you want a really want a WTF??? experience though, watch El Topo. Not saying it's a great movie, but you won't forget it!
shareWhat about that hawk killing part? That was totally uncalled for! ...and the sister now tries to kill the guy for slaying the hawk? Why?!?
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Saw this a few days ago and I'm quite confused by it. And exasperated by it.
What you see is not necessarily what you get,
Not trying is dying, keep trying unto death....
I too basically stumbled apon this little gem recently (was on a premium channel like Starz or HBO) and fell for the totally "bait & switch" tactic of it's description of "futuristic" battle of the sexes. After five minutes I was lured in just on its demented nature. It reminded me of Pink Floyd's the Wall with scenes like the group of women in gas masks pummeling someone, the girl roaming through the house with gunfire and soldiers running through the yard.
By far the suckling scene came out of nowhere and had me laughing more than anything. But with the flowers crying when she layed on them and eventually stomped and strewn them about, the dead woman soldier systematically chucked into a grave and covered with dirt, everyone communicating by what appeared to be telepathy, the old lady becoming "doll-size" and the girl stranggling the old woman are just a few bizarre moments.
As for the hawk, that was more rituallistic than anything. If you didn't notice, they kept referencing a painting on the wall with what appeared to be Native Indians in the same situation, thus the brother and sister painting themselves up and killing the bird were direct reflections of that.
This film is definitely one for philosphy classes & film school lectures.
I’m usually a huge fan of foreign films, they remind me of my fun days in art school. One of my favorite days of the week was my Weds film class. I’m surprised I missed this one back then. I suppose even our forward thinking film teacher thought this was too bizarre for us? (I'm talking about a film class in art high school, not college. We might have been too young to see this. This probably got an 'M' rating back then.)
I caught this by accident on Showtime, I was quite surprised Louis Malle made such a strange surreal film. It was more Bunuel, than Malle or Truffaut.
When films, music and art are just too strange for the sake of being weird, well, they seem to lose whatever value and meaning the artists are trying to get across. Heavy metaphors and symbolism sometime just don't make for a great movie.
Without the atmospheric cinematography of the late Sven Nyquist and the fairly decent acting of Ms. Harrison, this film was simply repetitious and, frankly, incredibly boring.
The other saving grace was having the beautiful & sexy, if somewhat limited-as-an-actor, 'Warhol Superstar' Joe Dallesandro have a dialogue free part....HA-HA! I honestly can’t imagine him speaking with his usual heavy ‘New Yawk’ accent, especially in this film. It was hilarious enough hearing his Brooklyn accent in the Warhol ‘Frankenstein’ film.
I usually have a stomach for most gross scenes in movies....'El Topo', as someone mentioned here, that was beyond weird and I sat through that....though, in this film, I was a bit repulsed by the creepy old lady ‘nursing’ from the two young women.
I could have certainly done without that imagery. Definitely. Those scenes are now seared in my brain!
Even though you didn't actually 'see' much and the old actress probably wasn't actually 'nursing' from the actresses, the implication and imagery was bad enough. Too weird for me. Shudder.
Thankfully, Malle spared us an actual 'nursing' scene between the unicorn and Lily!
I found nothing strange in it...
merely interesting
Refreshing actually
There really is nothing strange about the movie once you realise what is going on. The whole thing is happening inside the crazy, beautiful mind of the lovely heroine, Lily. Malle leaves plenty of clues: the brother and sister, both called "Lily"; the real Lily being able to understand the others without their saying anything; the battle of the sexes representing the battle between the masculine and feminine sides of Lily's character (the brother and sister); the old biddy and the unicorn each pointing out that the other is not real; Lily 'waking' from her fight with the children to find that she is only fighting with herself; etc., etc.
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