Surreal science-fiction fantasy about a student revolt at a futuristic University.Surreal science-fiction fantasy about a student revolt at a futuristic University.Surreal science-fiction fantasy about a student revolt at a futuristic University.
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaItalian censorship visa # 54238 delivered on 5-8-1969.
- Quotes
narrator: [opening narration - whispered] An experiment, conducted by some scientists on laboratory rats has shown that, in an overcrowded population, repression and dominance bring about a ruthless struggle for survival; a struggle that leads to social aberrations of a pathological and monstrous nature. Sexuality becomes madness, cannibalism. After a few months of observation, it was determined first of all, that this disintegration of social structure was besetting both males and females. A vicious war for supremacy began between the males which lasted uninterruptedly and with a remarkable fierceness until the strongest prevailed. Having become chief, the strongest would then isolate himself with females and would force them to wait for him in a sort of harem while his vigilance dominated the lives of his subjects from above.
narrator: [she continues] Deprived of females the males mated with each other, lacking any alternative. They would go out just to eat and as soon as they met the Chief, they would try to mount him unconsciously, according to that process called "homosexuality of identification". More serious was the alteration of maternal behaviour. The females, having become pregnant and perhaps sensing the tense atmosphere, refused to bear and preferred pain to motherhood until bursting into a slow and exasperated agony. A few agreed to deliver, but right after they lost interest in the offspring. Thus, unable to raise their babies, they were forced to abandon them, watching their cries for help impotently. Where they managed to avoid being devoured by the adults, the survivors, isolated and deprived of motherly care, could not follow a regular pattern of development and grew up abnormal and deformed.
narrator: [she continues] After a while, the general neurosis and the succession of such phenomena, increased the social pathology rate with sudden violence, leading to a single result... the extinction of the population. Thank you.
- ConnectionsReferenced in Morricone conducts Morricone (2006)
But then, it's also one of those movies that seems almost entirely to have been created for the sake of its set design, rather than the other way around. There's not much to the script, beyond a familiar bare outline (moderately rebellious individual rebels against controlling society), and the point is vague because the satire (or whatever) is so subservient to the visual design. Nonetheless, the visual invention (plus an interesting Ennio Morricone score) is enough to hold your attention. Most of the interiors (and even some exteriors) are almost entirely white-on-white, with an op-art feel amplified by costume and sculpture elements.
You can see why the young male British lead didn't have a major career (he's effortful without being very appealing), Lionel Stander is OK as his chief tormentor, and the only other actor to make an impression is Carol Andre as a somewhat crazy young woman the hero shacks up with (in makeshift igloo) after fleeing the oppressive society, and before returning to it.
There are some moments that anticipate aspects of "THX-1139" and "A Clockwork Orange," although of course without the stronger narrative or guiding directorial visions of either. What does it all mean? Not a lot, I'd guess. But "H2S" is still one fo those films whose indulgence and eccentricity couldn't have happened at any other time, and if you keep your expectations modest, it's a rather enjoyable curio-lively enough not to be just a failed experiment, even if the humor that leavens it isn't necessarily its strongest point. I'm giving it a six, which is a little generous, but a five would seem too stingy.
Details
- Runtime1 hour 25 minutes
- Sound mix