"Seance on a Wet Afternoon" (1964) on Hulu Plus

     I remember when I first encountered this film. It was during one of my shifts at the video store (Video To Go RIP). Wandering the aisles, my eye was caught by what I thought was one of the strangest titles I'd ever seen:

     This experience of stumbling upon a title purely through chance- of wandering through an environment with a finite amount of choices and discovering a dusty gem- is one I miss. I understand that alot of it is nostalgia, and the irony of bemoaning the loss of the video store experience on a blog dedicated to streaming services is not lost on me. It's just that I miss the thrill of discovery, of having my interest piqued by a title, a bit of cover art, or a write-up on the back of the box. We live in a world now where our devices tell us what they think we want, where the computers at Netflix make weird recommendations based on whatever algorithms they are programmed with. Video stores, to me, were all about not knowing what I wanted. Of travelling the world of cinema without a detailed map, until an avenue caught my eye and then finding where it lead. Such was how I discovered this film.

     "Seance on a Wet Afteroon" begins quite literally. The mood of the piece is immediately established in the hushed candle lit seance scene that opens the picture. After that, the participants and the audience are thrust out into the afternoon, rain falling on the camera as we stare up into the grey English sky.

     This is the story of Myra (Kim Stanley) and Billy (Richard Attenborough) Savage and their plan to kidnap a child (Judith Donner), so that Myra may later aid in finding her, thereby proving her psychic abilities. Myra treats Billy horribly, manipulating and insulting him at every opportunity. Attenborough as Billy is soft-spoken, beaten down with a soul-weary stare, quietly carrying out his wife's criminal wishes.

     There's a mournful black and white heaviness to this picture; a fluid, uneasy stylishness to the cinematography. Initially, the aesthetic alone evokes dark feelings within the viewer, and as the story unfolds we discover they are tied to the narrative as well, a story of loss and sorrow. Under Bryan Forbes' direction, style and substance are one.

     Likewise, sound and screen are synthesized beautifully. John Barry delivers a score that stands out even among his godlike body of work. During the kidnapping scene, as the child cries out from the backseat, we don't hear her voice. Instead, we hear the flute's of Barry's music. It's music as dialogue as pure emotion. Forbes' attention to sonic detail enriches the entire picture. When Billy kidnaps the girl, a jet flies overhead, underscoring the moment. Later, he and Myra hide in their house as the cops are at their door, looking for the girl they have hidden. The sound of the young girl's voice penetrates the silence, making the tension unbearable. It's an example of a film-maker using all the cinematic tools in order to create suspense.

     Kim Stanley's performance is powerful and complex, and because she didn't perform on the silver screen again for 20 years, legendary. Myra is a charlatan who believes her own con, who uses kidnapping as a means to prove the truth of her lies, oblivious to the paradox. This discordant mix of the esoteric and the common perfectly echoes the title, which conjures images of the mystical and strange, but instead refers literally to a seance that is happening on an afternoon when it is raining.

     As the picture progresses, we eventually come to view Myra not as a domineering manipulator, but as a sick, mentally troubled woman. In a pivotal scene about 90 minutes in, Billy finally asserts himself, becoming a voice of reality and reason, and we realize the dynamics between this couple are not at all what we had supposed them to be. Whether out of love, loyalty or both, Billy has chosen to be the subservient husband until this moment when Myra's requests go too far. Attenborough, understated and heartbreaking, is the perfect counterpoint for Stanley's portrayal of a woman's gradual mental breakdown. It's a case of two great artists relying on each other and enhancing one another's performance. Together they give us a portrait of two sad human beings, haunted by a shared tragedy in their past.

     Part thriller, part psychodrama, but ultimately a study in grief, "Seance on a Wet Afternoon" is an overcast ode to loss and plans made for a future that never arrived.