The above image, a beautifully absurd shot of a woman with what is clearly an eyeball in her mouth, is one of hundreds of bizarre, enchanting and disturbing (take your pick) images from Obayashi's classic cult film "Hausu" (1977). A bunch of Japanese school girls (stop right there: the moment you read that, you know this can't end well) go to a mansion in the country for some rest and relaxation and instead come face to face with a devious white cat, violent linen, a possessed piano and a watermelon (this isn't all of it; I wouldn't dream of spoiling all the fun). It's a wonderfully delirious film that precedes the camera-manics of Sam Raimi by at least five years and became a landmark film in Japanese cinema.
Speaking of landmark movies:
The considerable creative force of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger resulted in what must be one of the most visually attractive films of all time, "Black Narcissus" (1947). Starring a strong Deborah Kerr (she of the wave-frolicking in "From Here to Eternity" fame), the film tells the story of a group of nuns trying to establish a school and hospital in a former palace up in the Himalayas. It's incredible that a film over 60 years old is more adept at establishing depth than 3-D movies. It's called "mise-en-scene", and the masters were excellent at it. Jack Cardiff's cinematography is as impressive as the mountain home the nuns try to create.
