Review: Beyond the Black Rainbow

Beyond the Black Rainbow is either one of the most gripping film experiences you will have, or a confusing, overly-long and boring let-down. Either way, the end result will say more about your own mind rather than the movie itself.


Feminist Film Forum listed Beyond the Black Rainbow as being paired with THX-1138, which couldn't have been a coincidence. Both films share a thematic similarity: a human spirit, residing in an oppressive technological environment, awakens from induced delirium and uncovers the will to escape. Minimalist camera movement and stark, sterile settings are shared as well, but similarities end there. Comparisons can also be drawn to 2001: A Space Odyssey, primarily due to color aesthetics (strong, washed-out reds), Sentionauts (Dave Bowman's suit and stance), and unexplained hallucinatory imagery. Altered States seems to have an influence as well, with drug use initiating evolutionary change in people. It tends to evoke a David Cronenberg aura at times, with several other influences waiting to be seen...by the right people to see them.

That's the reality of Beyond the Black Rainbow. Some people have criticized the film for lacking a completely coherent narrative, or criticizing Director Panos Cosmatos for stating that he had no specific hidden meaning in mind, waiting to be uncovered by the viewer. It's not incomplete, or lazy, but deliberate;  Cosmatos has essentially crafted a two-hour rorschach test for the audience. Each person will see what their mind can interpret from the information given, and nothing more. Decrying it is akin to getting upset when the analyst can't tell you what species the butterfly you just saw in the inkblot is, or whether or not it's alive or dead.

Cosmatos actually removed a lengthy sequence from the film because it explained the technology in use at the institute, which spoiled the hazy, subjective-interpretive atmosphere he was going for. The end result comes close to a perfect, tension-filled and occasionally violent film experience. It only stumbles at the end, when the audience is shaken awake from their dream-like aphasia to have several moments of a generic slasher movie intrude on and close out the experience. 

It felt meta-ironic to me, however; critics that I've heard describing Beyond the Black Rainbow as 'boring', 'confusing', or 'not violent or gory enough' strike me as the exact same type of people as the pair dispatched in the finale. It almost seemed as if the clunky ending was tacked on not only for their benefit, but also to criticize them at the same time. And that's the beauty of interpretive art such as this. You may see something completely different.

Cosmatos financed the film himself, through profits passed on from his father's dvd residuals (from directing Tombstone...yes, *that* Tombstone). Cosmatos has said that he detests prequels, but is 'intrigued at the idea of what might happen after the end of the film'. Time will tell if this was lightening in a bottle, because a straightforward serial killer narrative, as a follow-up, would be a shame.

If he attempts to describe, in explicit detail, the butterfly we all just saw, I won't be interested. But if he holds up another card with a shape similar to the last, but distorted differently, and asks 'tell me what you see', consider that movie ticket sold.