cinema history class (the mafu cage)

Session: Bring Your Own Movie Month, Week 6 (Christina)
Movie: The Mafu Cage (1978)
Directed by Karen Arthur

As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL.

Plot:
Ellen Carpenter is trying her best to take care of her dysfunctional sister, Sissy, who wants a pet. But can Sissy take care of an animal? Horror ensues.

Reaction and Other Folderol:

The Mafu Cage left me exhausted. It's an emotional roller coaster in which you really never know what's going to happen -- who will live, who will die, and how. Gee, isn't it appropriate that I'm writing this during the Ten Days of Repentance.

I've always liked Carol Kane. I usually see her in comedic roles -- notably in Taxi -- and she'sreally good with the funny wackiness. But this was a side I don't recall seeing before -- Kane's wackiness in service of dark drama. In some ways it's like looking at a mirror-universe Simka Gravas. As the movie starts Sissy's insanity seems, if not minor, harmless. Then we see that something isn't right. And, we watch her descent accelerate.

Lee Grant, as Ellen, is sane by comparison. But she has her own issues -- her passive enabling and emotional repression. And, of course, there's the creepy context of the lesbian incest. And it's easy to miss all that as her neuroses can be easily overlooked in the shadow of Sissy's massive insanity. But it's there. And Ellen's refusal to deal with a clear and obvious problem is a major factor in Sissy's descent.

This is another one of those great movies I would never have heard of if not for this class.

Ratings

Me: 10

Bob-O: 10

Dave: 10

Ethan: 10

Joe: 10
Keith: 10
Sharon: 10

I believe that this is the first time in the class where everyone gave the movie a 10.