Liking or disliking this film appears roughly to be about a 50/50 split. In order to write a review that might add something useful to the many already written, I will try to point out some elements that could affect your enjoyment of this movie thereby helping you decide if you want to spend the time watching it, to wit:
First off, it's not sci-fi. It is a fetishistic, pseudo-erotic fantasy that will not be particularly arousing to most people in the mainstream. There were several scenes that collectively made me decide to take "Uncle Louis" (Louis Malle, the director) off of my "A" list of babysitters.
Secondly, while there are a few vague similarities to Charles L. Dodgson's (Lewis Carroll) "Alice in Wonderland", this thing is not even close. Dodgson's masterpiece combination of comically bizarre characters, charmingly absurd situations, wildly imaginative scenery and brilliantly logical dialogue remains both treasured and unmatched in all of history's known literature. On the other hand, this muddled romp through Louis Malle's rather...er..."peculiar" mind has all of the charm of a full-for-5-days, fish offal bin, on a hot August afternoon.
The reviews that allude to this film being allegorical and/or composed of a parable(s) and/or containing deep "messages" regarding war, social inequity, animal rights, etc., etc., ad nauseum must have Malle rolling on the floor, laughing hysterically. A more realistic interpretation is that Malle decided to knit together a bunch of idiotic scenarios that had formed in his head while he was thinking about the silly and/or contentious issues of the day (radical feminism, the Vietnam war, etc.) mixed with the black sludge contents of his own psyche. The end result being "Black Moon". The point is that there is no point to this movie and it is likely deliberate!
So, if you like watching films that are well-produced, well-photographed, artless euro- bourgeois, jumbled stream-of-consciousness, incoherent, pseudo-socially mindful, plot- free, products of Louis Malle's contemporary (to 1975) musings and possible masturbatory fantasies, then "Black Moon" is for you! Otherwise you might want to consider a good action-thriller and a tub of buttered popcorn (you'll have waaaaay more fun)!
Best Regards, OtherView
