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5+dolls+for+an+august+moon | Year: 1969 Directed: - Mario Bava Did I Miss Something? Cause I Was Really Disappointed! 5 DOLLS FOR AN AUGUST MOON is said to be Mario Bava's worst film & I couldn't agree more. It looked like Bava didn't care about this movie at all. Sure, it had style to spare cause it's by Bava, but for the most part, this movie is just plain boring. The only saving graces of this film is the colorful direction, beautiful women, & some sleek & stylish visuals. Unless you're a serious Bava fan, this movie may not be for you. the indiscreet charmlessness of the bourgeoisie. It is surely no coincidence that the two greatest adaptations of Agatha Christie (Rene Clair's 'And then there were none' and this) have been by directors who might be loosely called Surrealist, and have been based on the same book, 'Ten Little Indians', in which the traditional emblem of consciousness in the crime novel, the detective, is removed, allowing the unconscious free rein. 'Five Dolls for an August Moon' is not often rated as highly as Bava's horror films, but I think it might be his masterpiece, the murder mystery as Bunuellian bad dream. a number of couples are invited by magnate George Stark to his island retreat, as cover for his attempts to force a brilliant scientist to sell some secret formula that is worth millions but potentially dangerous. the increasingly tense atmosphere soon becomes the backdrop for a series of grotesque murders. There is something of 'the Tempest' about 'Five dolls', with its enchanted island (seemingly pivoted around the title moon), a presiding power manipulating everyone's movements and an Ariel-like figure flitting freely and decisively on the margins. but it is Bunuel who is the true guiding spirit - like the party-goers in 'The Exterminating Angel', Bava's bourgeoisie can't leave their opulent surroundings, and their elegant facade is soon stripped away to reveal sexual neurosis, financial greed and violence (lingering traces of fascism in the bright new democratic, industrial Italy, and all prominent in the brutal George); while, like 'Belle de Jour', the mystery narrative is subverted by a complex pattern mixing dream, subjective point-of-view and reality - one amazing sequence sees the survivors magically disappearing when potential rescuers arrive on the island. As ever, the house is central to Bava's vision, in this case a gorgeously gleaming, futuristic, spacious white interior, reworked into kaleidoscopic shapes by Bava's prowling camera, his quickswitch, wide-angle tilts and his use of deep deep-focus. the Hammond-dominated soundtrack is one of those infectious masterpieces seemingly de rigeur in the Euro-B-movies of the time, and so badly lacking in these gloopy, over-orchestrated times. the missing formula is more than a McGuffin: a powerful symbol for the absence (emotional, moral etc.) debilitating these awful characters. Surveillance is another prominent Bava theme, the all-seeing, unseen eye watching our every move in modern society - in this case the act of spying/looking/viewing and the act of killing are explicitly linked in a moment of Hitchcockian frisson. Agatha Christie on Acid Although Bava said this was his worst film, "Five Dolls..." is now enjoying a much deserved re-appraisal. When I saw a washed-out 35mm print some years ago, I was inclined to agree with the director's opinion, but the DVD release has laid any doubts I may have had to rest. The unusually framed compositions, frenetic zip-panning, intrusive zooms and gaudy colours give the film a psychedelic Eurotrash ambience that is difficult to resist. The unconvincing characterizations and hackneyed plot are lost in a welter of striking incidental details: hundreds of glass baubles rolling down a staircase and into the bloody water of a suicide victim's bathtub, being a particularly impressive example. The kitschy easy-listening soundtrack compliments the visuals perfectly, humorously underscoring the hanging of the corpses in the freezer with childishly sinister fairground music. The English dubbed track seems suffers from occasional irritating crackles, so I suggest you enjoy this garish "10 Little Indians" variant in Italian with English subs. Riddled with loose ends, it's not one of Bava's most substantial movies, but it's by no means devoid of the classic, unusual touches that are associated with his name. Buy 5 Dolls For An August Moon at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on 5 Dolls For An August Moon Search with the Priority Search Engine on 5 Dolls For An August Moon This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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