A Dour, Hallucinatory Neo-Noir, 1960’s ‘Blast of Silence’ Is Back on Blu-Ray
The hallmarks of film noir had been so well established by the time Allen Baron’s film came around that its down-at-the-heels existentialism had to come across as something of a parody.
A field of black is interrupted by a wavering pinprick of light. A grainy, seen-it-all voice begins its recitation. “Remembering out of black silence. You were born in pain.” We hear a woman shrieking over the soundtrack. “Easy, easy does it little mother. You never lost a father. Your job is done, little mother.”
A jazzy track commences; a slap is heard, a baby cries. “You were born with hate and anger built-in.” The light continues to approach. We are in a train coming out from a tunnel. “Later you learned . . . [to] let out the hate and anger another way.” So begins the tale of a hitman from Cleveland out to earn his pay in the drab environs of Manhattan circa 1960, Frankie Bono.
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