Movies
[BD Review] ‘The Strange Colour Of Your Body’s Tears’ Is A Pretentious Waste Of Undeniable Talent
The Italian-born giallo thriller is the perfect embodiment of everything I adore about the cinema. In this world, style reigns supreme. Characteristics include a murder mystery element, brutal violence, dreamlike visuals, and an elaborate soundtrack. The antagonist’s identity (including sex) is concealed by a black hat, gloves and trench coat. That’ll all be revealed in the third act. Iconic giallos include such titles as Blood and Black Lace, Don’t Torture a Duckling, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, Deep Red and Tenebre. In 2009, filmmaking duo Hélène Cattet, Bruno Forzani brought us an ode to the genre with the cult favorite, Amer. For their sophomore feature, they’ve returned to this inspiration with The Strange Colour of your Body’s Tears. The title alone is enough to elicit excitement out of long-time fans. I was going into this hoping for a continuation of this revival. Alas, it actually could do the exact opposite.
The Strange Colour of your Body’s Tears is about a husband who comes home to discover that his wife has gone missing. He and detective begin investigating the apartment building only to find out that the place and its residents have their fair share of secrets. The cast look like they were photo-shopped right out of those films. They’re perfectly in tune to the filmmakers’ vision. The cinematography is flat-out gorgeous. Every shot, every lighting scheme has been meticulously devised. The artistry on display is without question. The terrific soundtrack is compiled from other films of that era. It syncs perfectly with the imagery and helps to create the feel of the genre. I also adored the expertly-crafted sound design. It’s every bit as stylized as the visuals themselves. This is A/V craftsmanship of the highest calibre.
On the surface it sounds like vintage giallo but the plot is soon caught up in needless, incoherence (huge understatement). It took me right out of the picture. If you look real hard, you’ll see the workings of a semi-coherent story within all the babble. Worse; there are sequences that go on endlessly with a motif not unlike a music video. The dream within a dream thing will test viewer’s patience like never before. The filmmakers push this so hard to a point where I couldn’t help but to laugh out loud. This breaking point happens during the half way mark and consumed me (and some other folks) for the rest of the duration. It’s been awhile since I couldn’t contain myself during a theatrical screening. Unfortunately this isn’t intentional. I was amused for all the wrong reasons. This is pretentious with a capital P. While I’m more than sure there are audiences who appreciate what The Strange Colour of your Body’s Tears sets out to do, personally I can’t get involved in a mystery where a) I have no idea what the hell is going on and b) I don’t care whatsoever what happens to the characters. All of this seems like a waste to me if I’m not invested in what’s underneath all of the showboating.
If you’ve managed to go through your entire life not viewing a single giallo, this is the last place to start. I’d say avoid like the plague. It would scare off anyone who’d ever had the remote interest of seeing one. It successfully captures the audio/visual beauty of those films and that’s about it. The Strange Colour of your Body’s Tears is an immense disappoint. I have a fondness for art-house pictures but this doesn’t do them any service. It plays out like a parody and contains all the things that give them a bad rap. The Strange Colour of your Body’s Tears is an arrogant, incoherent piece of drivel. Cattet and Forzani are obviously super-talented which makes this nonsense all the more frustrating.
Movies
SCREAMBOX Investigates UFOs and Extraterrestrials: Several Documentaries Streaming Right Now!
As someone who is obsessed with UFOS (or more recently known as UAPs) and the concept of extraterrestrials, I love a good documentary. Sightings have been on the rise since the 1940s, with the atomic bomb seemingly acting as a catalyst for new visitors. But what are these UFOs/UAPs? Is there an explanation or are they simply beyond our explanation? Why are they here? Who are they? How much do our governments know? The questions are endless and so are the documentaries that attempt to uncover the secrets behind decades of sightings and alleged confrontations.
Whether you’re a seasoned viewer or new to the rabbit hole, there’s always a handful of interesting documentaries to get your neurons firing and leave you with sleepless nights. SCREAMBOX is investigating with the addition of several docs, all streaming now on the Bloody Disgusting-powered service. Here’s the breakdown:
Aliens (2021): Beam into this unidentified streaming documentary for a glimpse into Extraterrestrial life. Aliens are hypothetical life forms that may occur outside Earth or that did not originate on Earth.
Aliens Uncovered: Origins (2021): Before Area 51, hidden deep in the desert, the military discovered a hidden gem that helped them create Project Bluebook.
Aliens Uncovered: ET or Man-Made (2022): The crash of Roswell wasn’t meant for New Mexico. In 1947, a neighboring state had 3 major sightings that were swept under the rug.
Aliens Uncovered: The Golden Record (2023): In the late 70s, the US government launched a message to our distant neighbors.
Roswell (2021): This high-flying documentary examines the July 1947 crash of a United States Army Air Forces balloon at a ranch near Roswell, New Mexico. Theories claim the crash was actually that of a flying saucer, but what is the truth?
Also check out:
The British UFO Files (2004): Since the 1940’s the British Government has been investigating the Flying Saucer phenomenon. High-ranking military and government personnel, speak out for the first time, offering unique eyewitness accounts and inside information.
Alien Abductions and Paranormal Sightings (2016): Amazing Footage and stories from real people as they reveal their personal encounters of being abducted by Aliens.
And do not miss Hellier (2019): A crew of paranormal researchers find themselves in a dying coal town, where a series of strange coincidences lead them to a decades-old mystery.
These documentaries join SCREAMBOX’s growing library of unique horror content, including Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls, Here for Blood, Terrifier 2, RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop, Hollywood Dreams & Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story, The Outwaters, Living with Chucky, Project Wolf Hunting, and Pennywise: The Story of IT.
Start screaming now with SCREAMBOX on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Prime Video, Roku, YouTube TV, Samsung, Comcast, Cox, and Screambox.com.