Black Violet – review

Director: István Várady

Release date: 2017

Contains spoilers

That Black Violet would appear, according to IMDb, to be István Várady’s directorial debut makes it an astounding effort – not perfect certainly but astounding nonetheless. A black and white, certainly arthouse effort that, either deliberately or accidentally, seems to summon the spirit and mythology of Jean Rollin - whilst offering enough of an intertextual genre basis to shorthand aspects of the vampirism in the story.

The film steps slightly out of linear storytelling by splitting the story into chapters and placing chapter 4 ahead of the other chapters. More could have been done with this – in terms of non-linear construction – especially as there is an aspect within the film’s internal mythology that steps out of time. Before the chapters, however, we get a prologue.

on the beach

We see a couple on a beach. They are Zelda (Kayli Tran), who narrates the section, and her dream-man (Jimmy Flint-Smith). We discover that this was a regular dream the young woman had, of being with a man, of being inseparable, of being safe and, yet, at the end the dream would fade and vanish. I do not think it was deliberate, and it might have been something to do with how the Californian sun impacted the quality of lighting on a black and white shoot, but my mind was drawn during the scene to Track of the Vampire {aka Blood Bath} - note this is not a quality comment.

sugar skull

From that scene we head into Chapter 4, subtitled the Devil. Jennifer (Megan Desboro) and Carmen (Val Vega) are sat out in the desert as Jennifer makes Carmen up in the style of a sugar skull. Carmen wants revenge over her little brother for melting a limited set of Homies figures she owned. They see a man, Pepin (Scott Vance), staggering around holding a rock. They approach him and he asks about Córdoba but they say they are in California. Jennifer decides they should take the obviously confused man with them. There is a house nearby that she has access to whilst the owner is in jail.

attack

As they walk, Pepin complains of thirst and they give him water. He bites into the plastic bottle rather than remove the lid and he quickly vomits the water back up. He tells the two that he wishes to give them something for their service and offers them dog teeth, the only thing he has on him, they refuse and he is further confused – swearing that he knows a village where he could trade such teeth for a suckling pig. They get to the house but it's locked and Jennifer has to break in, leaving Carmen with Pepin who is asking about the war against the Moors. She breaks in but when she steps out of the house again she stops in shocked horror and the camera turns to show us Pepin feeding on Carmen. Jennifer’s screams end when Pepin breaks her neck.

Danielle Henderson as Kennedy

We get moments of a train system and Kennedy (Danielle Henderson) who appears to be a cleaner for the train company. Later we see she lives in a nicely furnished apartment, the only resident in the block. The intertitle for Chapter 1 is the Hermit and Kennedy is said hermit. It is unlikely that she needs to work and she keeps herself to herself – watched over by Altmann (Iván Kamarás, Dracula (2013 series)). They are both vampires turned by Pepin. Kennedy is not consuming blood and does a ritual to stave off the hunger – the Killing Hunger as Altmann describes it.

the Horned God

The ritual sees Kennedy consuming a concoction and passing out, coming round upon a beach. On the beach is the Horned God (played by both Ashley Watkins and Calliope Tsoukalas) who is served by two hooded Spanish priests (Jose Garcia and Béla Lugosi – at least according to IMDb). As things develop we discover that this is a dimension out of time and space. It was this aspect that reminded me so much of the works of Rollin, who used the beach as a motif. In Rollin's the Nude Vampire the other-dimensional home of the vampires is displayed as a beach.

coughing up bullets

Later in the film we discover that vampires are not necessarily magic or miraculous and so cannot heal from damage. However an injured Kennedy, who has been beaten and shot, manages to get herself to the beach and is healed by the horned God. When she awakens, she coughs up the bullets. It is also a place where Pepin, who has awoken early from his deep sleep, can be taken to heal his psyche – an early awakening can cause psychosis and amnesia. The Horned God is intimately connected with turning someone into a vampire. Vampires are long-lived – Pepin is 3000-years old, need blood but do reflect and can go into the sun. Kennedy’s lack of windows in her apartment is about feeling secure and not due to the sun.

Kennedy and Zelda

Story wise, Kennedy takes Zelda under her wing. Zelda is being forced to work for a crime family (as a hostess) a hostage from another family. They quickly become lovers, and Kennedy shares the truth of her nature with the mortal girl. There is also the question of Pepin, of who awoke him and why. The film does fit neatly together by its conclusion but, in some respects, could occasionally have done with more narrative explicit moments. The IMDb page description suggests the film “intimately explores the idea of growing beyond violence” – however the end of the film would seem to be more creation through negativity (and a violent outburst).

Scott Vance as Pepin

The film is very well constructed. The black and white photography is beautifully rendered and the direction competent with moments of excellence. The soundtrack works well but it is the performances that probably make this more than anything else; Danielle Henderson carries the lead well, ably supported by Kayli Tran but it is Scott Vance who steals the show as Pepin – with a fantastic performance. The film is pretty darn arthouse, will resonate well with Rollin fans and deserves 7 out of 10.

The imdb page is here.