Happy Adele/Floraine Connors
It is a story of a beautiful, but lonely woman and unrealized actress Adele (Floraine Connors). No longer young, she is still full of desire: sexy, with voluptuous shapes, and sparkling eyes.
Adele lives with her husband (Bob Cowan)and a dog Bocko. Her husband explicitely neglects her: at the table he shields himself with a newspaper and never appreciates her cooking; when she adjusts her stockings in bedroom, he rushes to the window to fix the curtains so that nobody from outside would see her. In a desperate voice the woman says: he does not appreciate my womanly charms. When he leaves, i'm going to kill myself.
After an unsuccessful suicide attemp ("When this peroxided woman would learn the responsibilities of a wife!"), she goes out to walk the dog. And meets Him. Morton is a tall cool stranger, young and passionate, played by handsome 25 y.o. George Kuchar. He lits her cigarette, entertains her, makes her laugh, flirts, catches her dog when it strays away and kisses her. Her life gets new meaning. She is happy and playful and is looking forward to an adventure. She reveals to him her desire: "I always wanted to be an actress!" - and performs a seducing dance, demonstrating her luscious body. At one point Morton's tall legs in pans with verticle stripes are behind her: she seems small and clingy, he is free, unreachable, his own man.
Morton returnes home, where his troubled wife, Florence, waits for him. She suffers terrible headaches due to a bicycle accident. She is robust and awkward, played also by Bob Cowan. He treates her with disgust: stuffs her mouth with medicines and lets her drink dirty toilet water right from the bowl with unflashed toilet paper. The scene is hilariously gross. She dramatically walks out of the bathroom and collapses in the corner.
Morton steps out and meets amother gorgeous and seductive stranger. They click from the first glance and cannot resist the urge. He follows her to her apartment.
At the same time, Adele, full with exciting expectations, cannot wait for her husband to leave for a job to call her new beloved. He answers the phone (we are shown his new passion sitting on a couch and pulling on her stockings). He answers that unfortunately cannot fullfil his promise and meet with her. Morton's wife, Florence, grabs the phone and reveals his situation. Here we observe a wonderful shift in time and space: the scene cuts from Morton's new mistress in her room to his apartment and wife.
Another cool cut 5 minutes earlier is a kiss of Adele and Morton with camera cutting to Bocko, the dog, pooping on a sidewalk. It reminded me of an image of the unflashed turd that George Kuchar will employ in his later films (I Married Heathen and A Reason to Live).
The woman is destroyed, crushed with sorrow and realization of her cruel destiny. Unwanted, unloved, neglected, she rushes outside. Her burden is so huge that only extraordinary, otherwoldly intrusion can relief her heart. Deus ex machina! Alien invasion! Soucermen attack the city! She runs from them but is struck with divine lightning and disappears.
Such exaggerated ending symbolizes the whole weight of her solitude and suffering. In a pathetic voice the narrator says: As we see all pieces of the story to fall in their meaningful places, we realized that God really! - and in a mumbling stumbling voice continues - really amm... umm. aaaa. came... knew what he was doin..... aaa... uhm...
A pathetic music - and the choice of music is remarkable - ends the video.
Reviews:
http://www2.citypaper.com/film/story.asp?id=20414
http://dejaviewpage.blogspot.com/2009/03/craven-sluck-1967-director-mike-kuchar.html
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