rewatched Berberian Sound Studio (2012, director Peter Strickland) tonight & felt like commenting on it.
A meek recording engineer (Gilderoy, played by Toby Jones) travels to Italy in the 1970s to handle sound (dubbing, foley, final mix) for what he thinks is a film about a horse-riding girl but turns out to be an exploitation/horror film.
I've seen this a couple times (often in some half-awake state) and always really enjoy it. There's a lot of cool attention to detail with the look and sound of the film, a lot of what I assume to be period-accurate recording equipment.
It's a slow psychological piece about Gilderoy's discomfort with being in a new (pretty negative) work environment and with the film he's working on. You never see that film itself, the horror film; you hear it and scenes are described but that's it.
About 2/3rds of the way through Gilderoy starts to break down and the movie (Berberian) starts to fold in on itself, become more abstract and surreal. I'm not sure the ending makes sense but it feels right (it feels complete, a transformation has occurred).
It's a very fun movie to think about. I'll have to pay closer attention next time (and try not to be half-asleep).