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Bookmark this pageBlack Rainbow (1989)
Director: Mike Hodges
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Spiritualist Martha Travis (Arquette) puts the recently bereaved in touch with their loved ones, reassuring them of a happy hereafter; but when she develops the gift - or rather curse - of prophecy, she becomes the disembodied witness to a brutal killing, and the hit-man's next target. As she fights to convince her drunken father (Robards) and a sceptical journalist (Hulce) that her powers are real, the rainbow colours of her visions are painted black, and she slips towards madness and despair... Writer-director Hughes has coaxed superbly understated performances from his cast, even down to the suburban black-gloved assassin who commutes to killings after kissing his wife and kids. The pacing, too, is tight and restrained, building slowly so that the climax, when it comes, packs a real wallop (though he can't resist an ambiguous coda). The result is Hodges' best film since his debut with Get Carter: a psychological thriller with a brain and a heart, which challenges the audience to explore their assumptions about reality, religion and the supernatural.Author: DW
Cast & crew
Director: Mike Hodges
Producer: John Quested, Geoffrey Helman
Cast: Rosanna Arquette, Jason Robards, Tom Hulce, Mark Joy, Ron Rosenthal, John Bennes, Linda Pierce, Olek Krupa full cast
Genre(s): Thrillers
Duration: 103 mins
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