Movie REview
★★★½
THE LOVE WITCH
Written and directed by Anna Biller. Starring Samantha Robinson, Gian Keys, Laura Waddell. At Kendall Square. 120 minutes. Unrated (smoking, sexual situation, provocative portrayal of gender roles, unpleasant use of bodily fluids).
People loved Samantha in the 1960s-’70s TV show “Bewitched’’ because, although she was seemingly omnipotent, she was totally subservient to her man. Whenever her husband seemed to lose interest or go astray, she could magically and coyly manipulate people, objects, and events to maintain her hold on him. She had the power, but she used it to maintain her proper role in a man’s world.
In the real world, and certainly in the delightfully crafted cinematic pastiche of Anna Biller’s “The Love Witch,’’ such witches have limited power to maintain their submissive-aggressive powers over the men they adore. Elaine (Samantha Robinson), the witch of the title, employs love spells but is not above drugging the object of her desire with hallucinogenics and other “potions’’ (which include a “witch bottle’’ made up of startling ingredients). Taking on the persona of a Stepford Wife (as one character describes her), with exaggerated makeup and a formidable raven wig, she embodies the passive-possessive sex object of men’s fantasies, and then transforms them into needy infants. And then they bore her. Unfortunately, at that point the movie becomes a little boring, too.
No matter. Biller dazzles the eye with her intricately hued, immersive décor. It is both ironic and hypnotic, allusive and unique. She combines unlikely cinematic sources with unsettling aptness. A long drive with rear projection evokes both Alfred Hitchcock and the endless beginning of “Deep Throat.’’ At times it seems like Frank Tashlin directing “Emmanuelle,’’ or a Dario Argento collaboration with Rainer Werner Fassbinder.
Visually, it has the intense intimacy of a dream. Samantha’s apartment combines the uncanniness of tarot imagery with the psychedelia of Peter Max posters of the 1960s, all imbued with a sinister sexuality. She frequents a tea room of assaultive pinkness, complete with harpist, lace, delicate china, and colorfully frosted goodies. The set design is apparently the work of Biller herself, who, in addition to writing, producing, and directing the film, composed songs for the soundtrack and even wove some of the rugs. It is a true auteur creation that is absurd and exhilarating, a fun-house mirror reflecting our times and the folly of women who seek to control a patriarchal system by submitting to it.
★★★½
THE LOVE WITCH
Directed and written by Anna Biller. Starring Samantha Robinson, Gian Keys, Laura Waddell. At Kendall Square. 120 minutes. Unrated (smoking, sexual situation, provocative portrayal of gender roles, unpleasant use of bodily fluids).
Peter Keough can be reached at petervkeough@gmail.com.
