Rabbit’s Moon is an avant-garde

Avant-garde

Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....

 short film by American filmmaker Kenneth Anger

Kenneth Anger

Kenneth Anger is an American underground experimental filmmaker, occasional actor and author...

. Filmed in 1950, Rabbit's Moon was not completed (nor did it see release) until 1972

1972 in film

The year 1972 in film involved some significant events.-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:*Avanti!, directed by Billy Wilder, starring Jack Lemmon and Juliet MillsB...

. Anger re-released the film in 1979, sped up and with a different soundtrack.

Filmed under a blue filter and set within a wooded glade during the night, the plot revolves around a clown, Pierrot

Pierrot

Pierrot is a stock character of pantomime and Commedia dell'Arte whose origins are in the late 17th-century Italian troupe of players performing in Paris and known as the Comédie-Italienne; the name is a hypocorism of Pierre , via the suffix -ot. His character in postmodern popular culture—in...

, his longing for the moon

Moon

The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...

 (in which a rabbit lives - a concept found in both Japanese

Japanese mythology

Japanese mythology is a system of beliefs that embraces Shinto and Buddhist traditions as well as agriculturally based folk religion. The Shinto pantheon comprises innumerable kami...

 and Aztec

Aztec mythology

The aztec civilization recognized a polytheistic mythology, which contained the many deities and supernatural creatures from their religious beliefs. "orlando"- History :...

 mythology), and his futile attempts to jump up and catch it. Subsequently, another clown (Harlequin

Harlequin

Harlequin or Arlecchino in Italian, Arlequin in French, and Arlequín in Spanish is the most popularly known of the zanni or comic servant characters from the Italian Commedia dell'arte and its descendant, the Harlequinade.-Origins:...

) appears and teases Pierrot, showing him Columbina

Columbina

Columbine is a fictional character in the Commedia dell'Arte. She is Harlequin's mistress, a comic servant playing the tricky slave type, and wife of Pierrot...

, with whom he appears to fall in love.

Music

The 1972 version of Rabbit's Moon features a soundtrack consisting of 50s & 60s pop

Pop music

Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

: "There’s a Moon Out Tonight" by The Capris

The Capris

The Capris are an Italian-American Doo Wop group originating in the Ozone Park section of Queens, New York in the late 1950s.-Biography:The group originated in Ozone Park, Queens in 1957 when they were teenagers...

, "Oh, What a Night

Oh, What a Night (song)

"Oh, What a Night" is a song first recorded by the doo-wop group The Dells and released in 1956, originally under the title "Oh What a Nite". The Dells' recording peaked at number four on the R&B singles chart and was released on the Vee Jay Records label. Re-released in 1969, the song was...

" by The Dells

The Dells

The Dells are an R&B and crossover musical group. Their successful recordings spanned more than four decades. Formed in 1952 after attending high school together, the Dells' repertoire has included doo-wop, jazz, soul, disco and contemporary rhythm and blues...

, "Bye Bye Baby

Bye Bye Baby (Mary Wells song)

"Bye Bye Baby" is the first single by R&B singer Mary Wells, released in December 1960 on the Motown label. The song was one of Motown's earliest hit singles and showcased a much rougher vocal than the singer had during her later years.-Recording:...

" by Mary Wells

Mary Wells

Mary Esther Wells was an American singer who helped to define the emerging sound of Motown in the early 1960s...

, "I Only Have Eyes For You

I Only Have Eyes for You

"I Only Have Eyes for You" is a popular song by composer Harry Warren and lyricist Al Dubin, written in 1934 for the film Dames where it was introduced by Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler....

" by The Flamingos

The Flamingos

The Flamingos were a doo wop group from the United States, most popular in the mid to late 1950s and best known for their 1959 cover version of "I Only Have Eyes for You".-Early quintet:...

 and "Tears On My Pillow

Tears on My Pillow

"Tears on My Pillow" is a doo-wop song written by Sylvester Bradford and Al Lewis in 1958. The composition was first recorded by Little Anthony and the Imperials on End Records and was that group's debut recording under that name. Their original recording of the song became a Billboard Top 10 Pop...

" by The El Dorados

The El Dorados

The El Dorados were an American doo-wop group, who achieved their greatest success with the song "At My Front Door", a no. 1 hit on the R&B chart in 1955.-Career:...

. The 1979 version features only a loop of A Raincoat's "It Came in the Night" as its soundtrack.

Legacy

The film is credited by electronic

Electronic music

Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...

 duo Rabbit in the Moon

Rabbit In the Moon

Rabbit in the Moon was an American electronic music group. Their style draws from psychedelic trance, house music and breakbeat, along with other diverse influences.-History:...

as the inspiration for their name.