The Other Side of the Underneath - Enzian Theater

New 2K restoration by the British Film Institute!

Adapting her play “A New Communion for Freaks, Prophets and Witches”, feminist and radical theatre icon Jane Arden assembles her all-female theatre troupe for a violent descent into the mind of a young woman labelled schizophrenic.

Composed of different episodes brimming with psychoanalytic symbols and raw, shocking, heartbreaking footage, each segment becomes the metaphorical backdrop for the creator’s reflections on self-exploration, repressed guilt, sexual deprivation, freedom of expression, emotional breakdown and the “other side” underneath. The film is harrowing, nightmarish exploration of reason, chaos and Arden’s own battles with mental illness that’s unlike anything audiences have seen before or since.

Sheila Allen (Children of the Damned), Ann Lynn (A Shot in the Dark), renowned visual artist Penny Slinger, and Arden herself star in the only British feature film of the 1970s directed solely by a woman.

1972, 111 minutes, UK, Directed by Jane Arden, Unrated

“Terrifying performances of dissociated patients veer into theatrical tableaux of double-talk and outlandish costumes, of religious rites merging with marriage fantasies, music-hall bawdiness with rock-club slasher games.”
– Richard Brody, THE NEW YORKER
“A boldly feminist film in its engagement with, and rejection of, the contemporary place of women in British society.”
– Chelsea Phillips-Carr, CLÉO
“I don't know of anyone in cinema who has penetrated the psyche to the extent she [Jane Arden] has, or evolved visual language of such richness and strength to convey what she has to say.”
– Molly Plowright, GLASGOW HERALD
“A descent into what is called ‘madness’ or ‘schizophrenia’ demands a radical break from cinematic conventions and Jane Arden has achieved a major breakthrough. At the same time it promises a rebirth of the cinema. It is a terrifying, haunting, and enriching experience."
David Will, THE 1972 EDINBURGH FILM FESTIVAL