CANNON MONTH 2: Manifesto (1988)

Filmed in Yogoslavia as For a Night of Love and is based on the novella Pour une nuit d’amour by Émile Zola, this was directed and written by Dušan Makavejev, who was infamous for making Sweet Movie.

The King’s security chief Avanti (Alfred Molina, quite early in his career) is in charge of what is, for the most part, an ineffectual police force. He has come to the village of Waldheim to protect the monarch while Svetlana (Camilla Søeberg) comes with murder and perhaps love in mind.

It’s also the second movie that Molina and Ronald Lacey would be in after Raiders of the Lost Ark, as both have memorably small roles in that blockbuster. The cast also includes Eric Stoltz, Simon Callow, Lindsay Duncan, Chris Haywood, Gabrielle Anwar  and more.

If you haven’t seen Makavejev’s other work, it’s just as horny and sex-obsessed (and frequently funny). This is just another example of Golan and Globus offering a filmmaker with a strong independent streak and a history of controversy and enabling them to make a film.