Night of the Seal

Night of the Seal

  • Overview
  • Crew
  • Recommendations

Status

Released

Release Date

Jan 1, 1974

Runtime

0h 41m

User Score

53%

Original Title

La nuit du phoque

Director

Jean-Jacques Birge

Description

In La Nuit du Phoque ("The Night of the Seal") they "decided to try everything imaginable"; the 41 minutes are packed to the brim with wild and utterly incomprehensible visual and textual shifts, including special effects, graphic but sensual love scenes, a hilarious Busby Berkeley-style "revolutionary ballet", a superb avant-garde gay cabaret number sung by Philippe Danton – imagine a cross between Rocky Horror and the Trout Mask era Magic Band – and any number of absurd cameos (I particularly like the surprise appearance of Sir Isaac Newton, who scares the shit out of some kids playing in a local park). As a period piece La Nuit du Phoque is unbeatable, and it alone would make an impressive bonus.