Acclaimed English director Mike Hodges made a huge splash in 1971 with his critically polarizing crime drama Get Carter starring Michael Caine. The film was a masterclass in showcasing the truly seedy underbelly of the crime world in unsparing detail, which has only grown in favor since its release nearly fifty years ago. Throughout his career, Hodges has made many interesting left turns, from contributing a screenplay for a sequel to The Omen to directing the cult hit Flash Gordon. One film that has often been overlooked is his 1989 dalliance with the supernatural, Black Rainbow. The film starred the in-demand Rosanna Arquette (After Hours) alongside Academy Award winner Jason Robards (All the President’s Men) and Academy Award nominee Tom Hulce (Amadeus). Why have you never heard of this film despite the impressive roster? Well, at the time, the distributor, Miramax, was going through financial woes which resulted in a dud of a theatrical release. Thankfully, Arrow Video has come to the rescue to restore the film to its deserved place in film history.
Black Rainbow is presented in flashback to a young, traveling clairvoyant, Martha Travis (Rosanna Arquette), who tours the country alongside her alcoholic father (Jason Robards) to help audience members reconnect with their lost loved ones. Martha has been subjected to this lifestyle since she was a teen, and the relationship with her father has suffered as a result. He is very obviously a con artist looking to milk all the money that he can out of these desperate people, and he has taught his daughter all the tricks of the trade. But, might Martha have more of a gift than he would care to believe? During a standard gathering, Martha makes contact with the husband of a lady in the audience. She has a very clear picture of his demise, and she shares messages from him to his wife. There is just one problem with this connection: this man is still alive…for now. Her father waives this off as a con gone wrong, but things get more complicated when the man is killed that very night. Martha is the only person who knows who killed this man, and the truth behind this murder is a bigger conspiracy than she even knows.
One person that has a vested interest in exposing the truth is an intrepid young reporter named Gary Wallace (Tom Hulce). Gary is someone who will not stop until he gets the whole story, and it does not take him long to track down Martha and her father to flesh out his story and warn her of the presumed danger she is in due to her knowledge of the killer. Gary is an extreme skeptic when it comes to the supernatural, but he knows a good story when he sees one. Gary must do his best to stay professional as he becomes lulled into the weird world of Martha that challenges everything he knows to be true. The initial conceit of the story almost feels like fake-out, as you expect the supernatural elements to go in some truly strange places, but the film plays out more as a suspense thriller than anything horrifically supernatural. The film pulls out some mysterious elements near the end that will have you debating what you have seen, but this does not play as large of a role as you would hope. When you realize you are viewing more of crime thriller, you still appreciate what they are able to pull off, but it does not quite live up to the strange initial seeds that were planted.
It is only in retrospect that you understand that Hodges never really had an extreme interest in delving into the world of the supernatural further than he did. He was much more interested in using this story as a commentary on ecological disasters, worker’s rights, repressed trauma, corporate malfeasance and other ethical questions that plague his mind. If this sounds a bit lofty, you would not be wrong. Hodges is trying to cover a lot of ground within this one film that does not seem ready-made for such ideas, which makes it feel slightly aimless and overstuffed at points. The points he is trying to make are all valid and worthy of commenting on, but I would not be surprised to learn that most audiences were oblivious to these extra layers. The movie still works on a surface level due to the fantastic performances from our three leads, especially the understated Arquette. These types of charlatan roles can easily be campy, but you completely buy what she is selling the whole time. Her exchanges with Robards can be very uncomfortable on a character level, but it makes for engaging cinema. Hodges may have tried to accomplish too much in Black Rainbow, but the end result is still an entertaining ride with a few twists and turns to keep things from being completely predictable.
Video Quality
This new Blu-Ray from Arrow Video gives Black Rainbow an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1 derived from the original 35mm negative scanned at 4K and finished in 2K. The film has pretty solid grain structure that preserves the filmic look of the picture, showcasing subtle details in the Southern locale. There are a few instances where the grain field becomes a bit heavier than normal, but these moments are few and far between. Skin tones look natural, with an excellent amount of facial detail present in close up. Colors pop off the screen nicely, especially in the bright reds of Martha’s lipstick and the green of the country landscape. Black levels hold up pretty well with some admirable depth to the image. Arrow has lovingly given this film a new life on Blu-Ray which allows it to look the best it ever has.
Audio Quality
This Blu-Ray comes with DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio and LPCM 2.0 tracks that open up this journey in a pretty grand way sonically. The sounds of the train creep through the surrounds to provide some excellent ambient details. All of the various sounds in the mix seem accurately placed so that nothing ever feels off. The scenes in which Martha is putting on a show in the large venues offers up a real sense of place with the mild echoing coming though the mix. The sound of the dialogue itself comes through crystal clear without being crushed by the sound effects or score. The soundtrack is definitely a product of the time, but it sounds quite good in this presentation. Arrow has provided an audio track that is equal to the excellence of the video quality.
Special Features
- Audio Commentary by Kat Ellinger and Samm Deighan: These two critics look at the film from an intellectual context by focusing on the environmental messages of the film, the varied career of Mike Hodges, Rosanna Arquette’s acting choices and more. These two have a lot of interesting insights into the film that are very much worth checking out.
- Audio Commentary by Mike Hodges: Director Mike Hodges gives a more personal look at the film with anecdotes from filming, insights into his script and more. Hodges is a really fascinating individual, which makes for a great commentary track.
- Message In A Bottle – The Making of Black Rainbow: A twenty-minute featurette that gives a general overview of the film including the commentary on working class America, the development of the film, casting the leads and more.
- Archival Interviews: Interviews with the main cast members conducted during the production of the film. Each interview runs just over two minutes, and the actors give a general overview of their characters accompanied by footage from the film. All of this footage can also be found in the “Behind The Rainbow” featurette in the next segment.
- Jason Robards
- Rosanna Arquette
- Tom Hulce
- Archival Featurettes:
- 8 Minutes: An eight-minute EPK featuring interviews with the cast and crew, scenes from the film and a voiceover selling you on the notable aspects of the film.
- Disasters: A two-minute look at the environmental messaging contained within the film.
- Seeing The Future: A two-minute look at the clairvoyant aspects of the film and what it means for our characters.
- Behind The Rainbow: A twenty-minute overview of the film that collects some of the other interviews into one longer piece. There is some exclusive footage in here that makes it more than a rehash of other features. Between this one and “Message In A Bottle,” you should be pretty well covered on this film.
- Trailer: A nearly two-minute trailer that gives a quick insight into what you can expect from the film. Nothing too spoilery!
Final Thoughts
Black Rainbow is not exactly the shudder-inducing supernatural tale that the premise might lead you to believe, but it nonetheless offers up many suspenseful moments of both personal peril and interpersonal drama. The film is a technically admirable accomplishment with lovely cinematography and wonderful performances from our trio of actors. Arrow Video has given this forgotten film the A+ treatment with its excellent A/V presentation and assortment of compelling special features. Fans of southern gothic tales should check this one out. Recommended
Black Rainbow is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Arrow Video has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
