Synopsis
A nightclub singer is haunted by the ghost of her late father. The dead man summons her through a mirror, forcing her to commit a series of violent crimes.
The Obscene Mirror
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Alternative Titles
Le miroir obscène, Inside a Dark Mirror, Obscene Mirror, Lo specchio del piacere, The Other Side of the Mirror, Le Miroir obscène, 淫镜, Aynanın Diğer Yüzü, 음란한 거울, Непристойное зеркало
Releases by Date
Theatrical
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Canada
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Romania18
03 Sep 1975
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France
Releases by Country
Canada
24 Sep 1973
- Theatrical
France
03 Sep 1975
- Theatrical
Romania
24 Sep 1973
- Theatrical18
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A dreamy surreal venture into Madeira via the psyche of a tormented young women. Jess Franco's The Other Side of the Mirror largely drops the sleaze that the prolific director is so well known for; instead preferring a mellow ambiance as we explore the machinations of the central narrative thrust along with plenty of distractions. The base plot focuses on the relationship between father and daughter. His fear of losing her to a man she wants to marry leads to him commiting suicide. She sees his corpse through a mirror, the trauma leading her to move away and become a nightclub singer, only for her guilt to manifest as her father's reflection in a mirror - leading her to kill…
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trying to escape the patriarchs by losing yourself in jazz and sex, but always being ruled over nevertheless -- the father in the mirror becomes the father inside your head, accosting you for daring to love anyone else, for daring to have a life outside of his. emma cohen increasingly discovers her own disinterest in life -- everything lathered in boredom, antonioni-ennui, a thousand possible tomorrows made useless by the omnipresence of the fixed past -- a contemporary gothic.
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“His presence is always with me.”
Lingering as he does so often, on images that fascinate him, regardless of an audience, irrespective of producers or the dictates of a plot, his fascination opens the door for us. A part of me has lived a few precious moments of this film; I feel that I’ve been there, on the island of Madeira one Thursday afternoon in August 1973, drawn into a faraway day, a ghost from the future, through the spell of Franco’s ever-turning camera.
— Stephen Thrower, Murderous PassionsA young girl haunted by her dead father and the gilded mirror in which she saw his hanging body, tongue hanging out. A rare, psychologically complex Franco, inspired by the island…
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Hooptober X(-Rated)
#42 - X(tra) sleazeHave you ever watched a film and been left wondering if the entire crew had been indulging in a crack and smack party pack?
Fantastically odd, and off the charts with 70s vibes, this obscene mirror is surprisingly good fun. Thanks Uncle Jess.
Yeah kids.
Don’t do drugs.
Or if you must, bring a camera. -
This is what I love about Jess Franco. I knew absolutely NOTHING about this one going in, never see it mentioned, just another random blind watch, and it ends up being one of his most haunting and well crafted pieces of work I've seen yet. A vast filmography chock-full of surprises!
And it's a far cry from the usual sexploitation fare as well, really showing off the depth of his storytelling chops here. A voyage into the psyche of a daughter traumatized by guilt after witnessing her father's slack-tongued suicide on her wedding day. His mirrored specter watching over her, destroying anyone who gets too close to his precious little girl. A story shrouded with mystery and intrigue, while still…
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Version watched: 95-minute Spanish cut.
Spoilers ahead.
Though the two stories are quite different, Al Otro lado del espejo nevertheless reminded me a lot of A Virgin Among the Living Dead. Both shot (partially) in Lisbon, the two films also share a languid pace, as well as haunting reappearances of a beloved, departed father. In addition, they both concern themselves primarily with the interiority of their lead female character, there the lost and lonely Christine, here the poised, increasingly resolute Ana (Emma Cohen, whose performance is so good she was nominated for acting awards in Spain).
Whereas Christine finds herself in an isolated, ever more sinister place as she tries to cope with and recover from the death of her…
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Watched the Mondo Macabro Blu-ray. The Spanish version with English subtitles under the title "The Other Side of the Mirror".
From highly prolific director Jesse Franco came this conceptually interesting film about a young girl named Ana (Emma Cohen) who has lived most of her life in a mansion with her father, played by Howard Vernon. She's a songwriter who falls in love with a guy and decides to marry him. She tells her father, who in a severe act of selfishness, commits suicide as to tell his daughter (also with a strong sense of incestuous undertones): "If I can't have you, no one can."
Struck with an overwhelming feeling of guilt, she breaks up with her fiancee and starts… -
“So many images, so many ideas that float around…that bounce off each other in effective ways.”
🗣️ Rewatched with audio commentary by Robert Monell and Rod Barnett.
Do you see yourself in your dreams? Or do you see yourself through your own eyes? An exploration of those areas beyond. Spectacular, high-definition presentation really brings out Emma Cohen’s sunburn, and those green eyes that match the flora of Madeira.
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A jazz pianist's dad makes 'the last decision' when she is of age to marry, thereby breaking their implicit sacred bond, and the image of his death is like a stain on her psyche, a situation made all the more troubling in that her dad's Howard Vernon. His primal resentment cuts through the ether, severing any promise of her romantic fulfillment henceforth, petrifying her within his mirrorworld, her life an endless mirrored mirroring of mirrorings.
What can I say? Fascinating. I first saw the dodgy French version of this where it was the sister who tops herself instead of the dad and I was ready to write it off. Then I did a little research…
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All hail Emma Cohen!
The Other Side of the Mirror dives into the deep end of the melancholy pool and never comes up for air. The enigmatic Emma Cohen stuns as a tortured jazz pianist haunted by her past and living in the shadow of a profound suicide, giving one of the strongest female performances in any Jess Franco movie. One particular sequence sticks in my mind - Emma aimlessly sleepwalking in a nightgown that is pure Jean Rollin, really just one of many instances in this movie that draws parallels between both directors.Currently getting the reappraisal it deserves, The Other Side of the Mirror is one of the best acted Franco films. It's a perfect example of his…
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Somehow, this film is the first one I've seen from Jess Franco. I'm not exactly sure why. I even own 5 or 6 films from him at this point. And The Other Side of the Mirror is probably a weird place to start. But I really loved this film and I'm not sure it will be leaving my mind anytime soon. I'm going in eyes wide open that this film is a bit of an outlier compared to a lot of his other work, and I cannot expect the same sensibilities shown here to show up again. I'll defer to the Franco experts on where to go next from here.
This film tells the story of…