Born of Fire (1987)

March 4, 2025 8:44 AM

[TRAILER] For reasons unknown, a flautist and an astronomer find themselves drawn to one another. But, when the flautist stumbles upon a secret regarding his late father, the two wind up in a celestial duel against the ancient Master Flautist for earth's future. Pakistani/French director Jamil Dehlavi directs this surreal fantasy with striking visuals that make use of real locations in Turkey.

Starring Peter Firth, Suzan Crowley, Oh Tee, Stefan Kalipha, Nabil Shaban, Orla Pederson, Jean Ainslie, Peter Penry-Jones, Morris Perry.

Directed by Jamil Dehlavi. Written by Jamil Delhavi, Rafiq Abdullah. Produced by Thérèse Pickard, Jamil Dehlavi. Cinematography by Bruce McGowan. Edited by Robert Hargreaves. Music by Colin Towns.

67% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Currently on YouTube in full. JustWatch listing. Also part of volume 2 of Severin's All the Haunts Be Ours folk horror collection.

posted by DirtyOldTown (2 comments total)

I would give the visuals a 9 out of 10. Some great stuff to look at. The mythology... I am open to the idea that it wasn't tropes I was familiar with and simply did not bother to explain them to me. But the net effect was characters sort of drifting through mythic situations that didn't resonate fully for me.

Proposal for a drinking game: take a shot every time a character stops to describe what is happening with a metaphor/simile; two shots if they begin with the words "It is as if..."
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:46 AM on March 4

This really worked for me - in fact I've seen it twice. I think he's doing something similar to what Boorman does in some of his films, mythopoiesis, it requires you work for it.
posted by Ashwagandha at 10:41 AM on March 4