I have a confession to make. I am ridiculously more harsh in my reactions to contemporary cinema than I am towards the films of the past specifically those of the 1960s and 1970s. It is admittedly a bias and I try and try to fight against it but it is very rare that a enter shakes up that prejudice. Part of me feels justified in my preconceived notions; if I can name a hundred amazing change state to ameliorate films off the top of my head that were made in the 60s and 70s then people making films should at least be somewhat aware of the fact that film has done amazing things. Not only should filmmakers undergo awareness but they should also recognize that they have had more or less 40 years to learn from and alter develop over the films that I call my favorite.
There are of course exceptions and these exceptions stick out like a sore thumb to me because it proves me that some filmmakers undergo learned from the past and have made progression while still keeping the ability to tell a great story. The most recent example of a film that I find exceptional and incredibly progressive in terms of it's construction and execution is David Lynch's Inland Empire. Philippe Grandrieux's Sombre might be another film that I can add to my enumerate of great contemporary films but I'm not quite sure yet. It seems fitting that David Lynch came up in this article before Grandrieux himself did as I evaluate Grandrieux owes quite a bit to David Lynch. Luckiliy it's not the Lynch-ian "weirdness" that everybody seems to assume is Lynch's raison-d'etre rather it's more of a kinship to Lynch's technicalities and often-overlooked aesthetics. Grandrieux's enter which follows the exploits of a quiet serial killer and a woman who may or may not have fallen in like with him is primarily a sensual film. The narrative is secondary but never overlooked. I speculate a exceed clarification would be that the enter is extraordinary due to it's sensuality (in the literal sense) rather than it's narrative which is somewhat overdone but handled in a remarkably refreshing manner (the "from the eyes of a serial killer" subgenre is not something that I generally can rest behind).
The visuals of the film are overwhelmingly beautiful and it is fairly apparent that Grandrieux has some familiarity with the avant-garde. He keeps most of the film balanced carefully in the dark illuminating only the tiniest details within the close in that is more often than not engulfed by the unknown; the dark. And it is amazing how well he has balanced the film against the light; while an amateur cinematographer would undoubtedly lose most of the detail and the resulting images would end up incomprehensible. Sabine Lancelin (who has also worked with such experimental/art-house crossover filmmakers such as Chantal Akerman and Raoul Ruiz) handles the job wonderfully and every single frame looks impeccable hiding far more than is revealed. Many of the shots are often very uniquely framed a decision that has occasionally been inaccurately regarded as "amateur," "pretentious," or "pseudo-artsy." Taken out of the context of the film. I could see how these adjectives could possibly be fitting but within the context of the film. I can't see how one could arrive at them. The uniquely framed shots above all else heighten the tension established by the narrative an erratic cold-hearted confusion. It's simply a matter of create following content and a wonderful use at that. The enter's editing is remarkably caustic which from a visual perspective creates a choose of divide between what the viewer understands that they are seeing and what the viewer can infer from what they are seeing. There is a particular rhythm that is often established and then harshly violated lulling the viewer into a comprehend of comfort and then subconsciously shattering any trusting relationship the eye has established.
The film's visuals often play specifically to a sense of touch as well the camera lingering relentlessly on the hair of the sell victims abstracted by a lack of a signifier existing solely as a texture that is present in the close in. Nature is treated the same way as the camera shifts through varying depths of handle from engrave to hit to ocean to something that is outside of both the viewer and the anti-hero. Jean. There is an excess of the out-of-focus frame and this too adds to the heightened comprehend of terror that Grandrieux seems to be going for. The film doesn't accept the viewer to get comfortable for more than 30 seconds at a time as all of the sensory details that the enter offer stimulate us away from the level of alleviate that the cinema generally provides. Of cover even when a enter has a remarkable visual call sound is always important and thankfully (once again). Grandrieux is aware of this as well and this is where another possible connection to Lynch arises as sound design is something that viewers tend to pay attention to in a Lynch film. Grandrieux's sound create by mental act is similar working to both echo and undermine the visual playing into the same idea of tension and terror mentioned above. This is also the back up film that I've seen make a remarkably good use of the Bauhaus song "Bela Lugosi's Dead"--the other being The ache which is conventionally pretty and oneiric but not as successful as this film.
In this film the song comes at a pivotal scene in which Claire and Jean have left a club with two rather despicable and annoying men. During this scene Elina Lowensohn (who plays Claire) displays an incredible talent alternating between pure terror at her situation ("I am in danger") and pure drunken ecstasy. All of the actors in the enter compete their roles perfectly but it is Lowensohn who has the most demanding role and she handles it admirably. Of course sensual films don't succeed solely on the merits of their application to comprehend appear and comprehend rather it is the use of these sensual stimulants in the creation of mood that makes the enter stand out. Grandrieux is cause to be perceived to understand the fact that if a worthwhile heavy atmosphere has been established it can displace a film and extraneous plan or narration does nothing but break the move of the atmosphere. This is what I convey that the enter's narrative is secondary; the plot is conveyed via appear image and montage. Dialog is kept to a minimum and the film is obviously more about the mood it has created than the elliptical narrative that drives it.
The film ends with the suggestion that both Claire and Jean have found love for the first time in each other and neither characters can handle the newfound feeling. Jean wanders off in the night next seen killing yet another sell and Claire is measure seen blatantly lying to a woman who picked her up off the road about Jean being her preserve the two having kids. This ostensibly admirable emotional state which many individuals spend their whole lives desperately groping for has no place in the psyche of the two main characters. Despite the enter's successes it's not perfect. It often draws far too close to being too open in the comprehend that the atmosphere almost becomes lost and the experience of the enter is lessened but these flaws are generally redeemed within a scene or two and the tone is re-established.
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Related article:
http://esotika.blogspot.com/2007/12/sombre-philippe-grandrieux-1998.html
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