Based on the Herman Melville novel of the same name as the protagonist, Pierre, the film surprised its audiences in a similar manner that Melville shocked his readers with the first book post Moby Dick. It follows a wealthy male author living with his mother, waiting to be married to his cousin, when a long-lost vagrant, claiming to be his half-sister, appears. (dir. Leos Carax, France/Switzerland/Germany/Japan, 1999, 134 min.)
“[A film that] breaks free of the dismal bonds of formula to cartwheel into overwrought passionate excess.” —Roger Ebert
The Witching Hour series is generously underwritten by Ian Belfatto.