Review of Sans Soleil (1983) by Paul W — 27 Apr 2012

2: If I could only use one word to describe "Sunless" it would probably be pretentious. In a bad way. The images are all fairly interesting and they are also edited together quite well, but the narration is awful.

At times it really stuck in my craw as it were. I just couldn't get over the feeling of mild revulsion towards the filmmakers. This isn't to say there weren't elements of the film that were brilliant.

The exploration of the Japanese culture from an outsider's perspective is rather fascinating. The scenes of volcanic destruction in Iceland are breathtaking and beautiful. The scene of the giraffe being slaughtered by a high-powered rifle and then apparently being left largely to rot by the Western hunter is revolting and least of all due to the vultures digging into the eye socket.

It's the gushing geyser of blood from the chest as the giraffe tries to maintain it's balance and slowly begins to realize it's time is up that is really shocking. Interesting film that I'm sure some love.

However, I hate a bit of a love hate relationship with it which forces me to give it a 2. I just wouldn't feel right giving it anything higher despite all of its charms.