[BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW
screens Thursday August 2nd at 5:30 pm and Friday August 3 rd at 9:30
pm at the Cleveland Cinematheque.]
Review
by Bob Ignizio
If only for its sterile
retro-futuristic set design, abrasive cinematography, Tangerine Dream
meets John Carpenter synthesizer score, and some arresting bad acid
trip visuals, BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW
would be a film worthy of attention. That it uses these elements to
create a compelling atmosphere is without question. Whether there's
really enough here aside from that to warrant a feature length film
is not so certain; BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW
feels like a good idea for a 20 or 30 minute short that has been
stretched to the breaking point at nearly 2 hours.
The main action is
set in 1983, but first we're given the set-up via an infomercial for
the mysterious Arboria Institute narrated by its founder, Mercurio
Arboria (Scott Hylands). He informs us that the goal of the Institute
is to help people achieve happiness and inner peace. The institute,
he assures us, “[is] at the forefront of neuropsychology and new
therapeutic technologies.” At the end of the tape, the attentive
viewer will notice a copyright date of 1966, meaning Arboria has had
almost two decades to work towards their goals. What we see of the
institute in its early eighties present doesn't look particularly
happy, though.
