Phantom Love

Lulu working in a Koreatown casino; Lulu copulating, again and again; a snake slithering behind the door and a woman suddenly invading her life. Obscure, dreamy, almost sphinxlike, Phantom Love refuses to merely relate a chain of events opting instead to convey the misty paths of the unconscious. The film’s uncanny, unsettling atmosphere betrays Menkes’s strong Lynchean influences, while Christopher Soos does a superb job of rendering Phantom Love’s mystical universe in a mesmerizing black-and-white cinematography reminiscent of Bela Tar’s Werkmeister Harmonies. Clearly, this movie was not made for the many; the few that dare explore Menke’s world will reap the rewards of a rare cinematic experience. The film premiered at Sundance Festival.

Director: Nina Menkes
Screenwriter: Nina Menkes
Cinematography: Christopher Soos
Editing: Nina Menkes
Music: Rich Ragsdale
Cast: Marina Shoif, Juliette Marquis

USA, B & W
English, 85’
Format: HD