HU-MAN (1975)
Article 5156 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 5-14-2016
Directed by Jerome Laperrousaz
Featuring Terence Stamp, Jeanne Moreau, Agnes Stevenin
Country: France
What it is: Arty science fiction

An actor, still hurting over the suicide of his wife, is coaxed by an old lover to take part in a time travel experiment where he is placed in dangerous situations which are shown on television, and the energy harnessed by the audience can move him through time.

This movie ended up on my “ones that got away” list several years ago, and at that time it was considered a lost film. However, a print appeared about a year ago, and I finally got a chance to see it. Unfortunately, there are no English subtitles or dubbing on it, so I’m left to the mercy of my imagination and what few plot descriptions I could find. I’m glad I did find the latter; the movie might well have been impenetrable to me otherwise, and I suspect even with dubbing I would have had a hard time grasping it. Fortunately, much of the movie is visual; there are long sequences of Terence Stamp (playing a character of the same name) wandering through various landscapes, and some of the visual content is very striking. The movie also makes some very interesting use of sound and music, and some of the songs on the soundtrack are in English. I was able to have some appreciation of the movie on this level, but my lack of proficiency in the French language deprives me of making any real meaningful review of this one. However, I do consider myself fortunate to have finally seen such an elusive movie.