Black Tower, The
- John Smith |
- 1987 |
- 24 minutes |
- COLOR |
- SOUND
Rental Format(s): 16mm film / Digital File
"In The Black Tower we enter the world of a man haunted by a tower which, he believes, is following him around London. While the character of the central protagonist is indicated only by a narrative voice-over which takes us from unease to breakdown to mysterious death, the images, meticulously controlled and articulated, deliver a series of colour coded puzzles, jokes and puns which pull the viewer into a mind-teasing engagement. Smith's assurance and skill as a filmmaker undercuts the notion of the avant-garde as dry, unprofessional and dull and in The Black Tower we have an example of a film which plays with the emotions as well as the language of film." -- Nik Houghton, Independent Media
"The Black Tower expands the core of Smith's interests: chiefly, the image as a filmic fact which is constantly questioned and often undermined by language and soundtrack. Like his earlier films, The Black Tower is concerned with description, but this time framed by a story whose undertow of melancholy balances its wit and wry humour, and which is a remarkable fiction in its own right." -- A.L. Rees
"The hilarious and slightly menacing The Black Tower is one of the most accomplished films to come from the British avant-garde for years." -- Michael O'Pray, Independent Media