Fantasia Fest 2021 - THE UNKNOWN MAN OF SHANDIGOR (1967)

The Unknown Man of Shandigor (1967)

Directed by Jean-Louis Roy

Written by Roy, Gabriel Arout, and Pierre Koralnik

Starring Daniel Emilfork, Marie-France Boyer, Jacques Dufilho, Howard Vernon, Serge Gainsbourg

Running time 1 hour, 30 minutes

Currently unrated but contains Avant-garde imagery and language, ennui, and instances of spycraft-related death

The Unknown Man of Shandigor is without a doubt the best and most excellent Avant-garde take on the spy genre that I’ve ever seen. Yes, that’s a very specific group of qualifiers, but I’m serious. Gorgeously shot in black & white, with shots composed like an art film (or like one of those especially grandiose perfume commercials popular in the late ‘80s or early ‘90s), director and co-writer Jean-Louis Roy has made an espionage film that’s as visually arresting as it is narratively nebulous. That’s not a criticism either, because it’s not trying to tell a tightly-scripted and intricate spy thriller, instead using that framework to riff on the genre’s conventions from a satirical POV.

It all starts with a gentle inversion of the usual spy movie tropes: instead of an eccentric megalomaniac with some MacGuffin that puts the entire globe in danger, Daniel Emilfork plays Von Krantz an eccentric regular-maniac who has developed the Canceler, a device which could end atomic warfare worldwide. He’s still a scenery-chewing lunatic with an albino assistant (Marcel Imhoff), a beautiful daughter who never leaves their estate (Marie-France Boyer), and even a “Beast” that lives in their swimming pool! In other words a pretty typical entourage in these types of stories.

Von Krantz himself even ostensibly resembles the ranting mad scientist character. He’s prone to dramatic monologues that would make Ernst Blofeld or Hank Scorpio envious, with lines like “Fear can be shaped” and when asked by a reporter in the film’s cold open whom he admires most, he responds “Dracula”. More often than not though, his monologues are about existential dread and general ennui; loneliness and isolation. Sure, he puts a man to death using radioactive gas that liquifies the intruder but that dude (co-writer Gabriel Arout) shouldn’t have been lurking about!

The agent played by Arout is one representative of the many international espionage agencies interested in the Canceler. They’re the French contingent: five equally bald men in black turtlenecks who are trained (by Spymaster Serge Gainsbourg!) to be masters of disguise. Gainsbourg also performs a farewell song as Arout’s spy’s remains are disposed of called “Bye Bye Mister Spy”, which I guess is the The Unknown Man of Shandigor’s version of Bond song. Not gonna lie; it’s unsurprisingly pretty good.

In addition to the French agents there’s a corps of Russian spies (directed by Jacques Dufilho), American agent Bobby Gun (Howard Vernon) who’s an inversion of the womanizing James Bond archetype: he goes into expansive detail about being in love with a woman named Esther (Jacqueline Danno) and, a late addition to the film the Black Sun-Orient organization. Their agent, The Man with the Platinum Ring (Pierre Chan) arrives out of a misty ocean in a frogman suit and gets into a technologically advanced Jaguar to go snoop on Von Krantz’s assistant Yvan (Imhoff).

One strange thing about The Unknown Man of Shandigor is that so much of it feels like it’s referencing The Prisoner (the equally avant-garde British miniseries about an intelligence agent) but I’m skeptical to make that connection since they both debuted in 1967. Perhaps they were both referencing some other bit of culture that I’m unaware of, or maybe there was just something in the air at that time? Firstly there’s a certain aloofness to the logic of some of the gadgetry. In horror there’s the phrase “non-Euclidean geometry”, which specifically refers to the concept of places whose existence does not make physical sense or obey the normal rules. Whatever the equivalent of “non-Euclidean logic” would be, I think it would apply to smoke that opens electronic doors, or a light beam that allows you to eavesdrop on a conversation.

Then there’s daughter Sylvaine’s (Boyer’s) story. After spotting some spies lurking on the edge of the property in a very non covert manner, she uses their presence as distraction enough to escape the grounds, only to be picked up by the French contingent. She is interrogated, gassed and wakes up back at Shandigor which, it turns out, is a location. Who knew! But it seems like some kind of tropic, semi-isolated resort island; it’s beautiful. There she finds Manuel (Ben Carruthers), a man with whom she’d had a brief fling years ago that she’s never gotten over, and he seems to be the only other person. How convenient. Perhaps too convenient?

These touches of surreality (How did she get to Shandigor? And where exactly is it?), combined with details like the fact that the smoke that opens doors is just a fire extinguisher, or that Von Krantz’s “Beast” is just dry ice discs causing the surface to bubble, add to the casually chaotic atmosphere. That DIY, makeshift attitude acts as a further twist on the usual approach to this genre, which is usually very polished and measured. But beyond even that, I just genuinely loved that creativity and the offhandedness of it all.

There are some aspects of the story - of the ways in which various characters relate to each other and what their respective goals are - that don’t quite make sense to me, but y’know what? The same goes for Quantum of Solace from 2008; a film which A) is in a language I speak and B) I have seen more than just once. At least in the case of The Unknown Man of Shandigor, I think it was intentional.

The Unknown Man of Shandigoor has stuck with me since I watched it, kicking around in my head, growing in my esteem and in lieu of keeping it a secret, I am actively spilling the beans. If you like spies, or art films, or Serge Gainsbourg: seek this film out! Find that Man!

The Unknown Man of Shandigor screened as part of Fantasia Fest 2021. The restoration was handled by Cinematheque Suisse.