The first project I saw from the Belgian duo of Bruno Forzani and Hélène Cattete was their segment on the horror anthology The ABC'S Of Death. It was an interesting contribution to the film. Less a short horror movie and more a THX demo disc inspired sex-scene, for lack of better words. Reminded me a lot of Chris Cunningham's Flex. And while it wasn't among my favorite segments from that film, it did make me interested to check out their other works.
I'm honestly not sure where to start with this. I guess I'll start with the obvious inspiration of giallo. Although the genre was seemingly exclusive to Italy, this seems to be a Belgian/French attempt at a modern giallo. Wikipedia even flat-out calls it a giallo. And it certainly has a lot of staples of the genre. A mystery plot, a black leather gloved killer, a memorable soundtrack, gorgeous scenery. Dario Argento must be pleased with this.
But there are a lot of other influences that make themselves clear throughout the film. A pet peeve of mine is when someone calls a surreal piece of media "Lynchian", as if David Lynch invented surrealist film. I don't see anyone make similar comparisons to Luis Buñuel or Georges Méilès, despite them making surreal films long before Lynch was even born. That being said, "Lynchian" is a pretty apt descriptor for this movie. There are scenes that brought to mind the stranger moments of Twin Peaks and its movie adaptation, Blue Velvet, Lost Highway, and even Eraserhead to a small extent.
I can also detect the avant-garde style of Buñel, the fast editing of Darren Aronofsky, the maximalism of Luc Besson, and even traces of 2000's horror near the end. The opening credits even use a very similar typefont to the one that Gaspar Noé often uses. This takes as much from Torso as it does from Un Chien Andalou. Yet despite all the influences here, it feels like it has its own vision.
Befitting of its surrealist inspirations, the movie is quite hard to follow. The main plot is clear: a man is looking for his missing wife. Yet the weird narrative structure and all the visual flourishes throughout make things very hazy. I don't normally rewatch something less than a couple months after my first watch, but for this, I felt I had to make an exception. There was that much to unpack here.
And this really does benefit from multiple watches. Not only are plot points more clear, but certain parts end up becoming easier to understand amidst the sheen of surrealism. It's still somewhat incomprehensible in parts, but decidedly less so. And with each watch, I find something new about it.
A lot of the violence here is done more artistically than anything else, which is another trait it shares with giallo. As a result, they are among the more standout moments here. One such scene that particularly stuck with me is the (possibly a dream) sequence with the killer literally getting inside a victim and using his body to stab himself, like a deranged form of possession.
I do think the ending could've been trimmed a bit. It does seem to drag somewhat by then. Otherwise, this seems to be one of those films that, the more you watch it, the more there is to uncover. There is even a shot of a Matryoshka doll, which I'm sure is a cheeky way to remind the audience of how layered the whole film is.
Bottom line: this film is firmly recommended for fans of arthouse, giallo, and David Lynch. And if you're in the Venn diagram of all three, that's a bonus. Those who prefer a clearer structure in their film might have to look elsewhere, however. Regardless, it certainly is a film that sticks in my mind.
I'm honestly not sure where to start with this. I guess I'll start with the obvious inspiration of giallo. Although the genre was seemingly exclusive to Italy, this seems to be a Belgian/French attempt at a modern giallo. Wikipedia even flat-out calls it a giallo. And it certainly has a lot of staples of the genre. A mystery plot, a black leather gloved killer, a memorable soundtrack, gorgeous scenery. Dario Argento must be pleased with this.
But there are a lot of other influences that make themselves clear throughout the film. A pet peeve of mine is when someone calls a surreal piece of media "Lynchian", as if David Lynch invented surrealist film. I don't see anyone make similar comparisons to Luis Buñuel or Georges Méilès, despite them making surreal films long before Lynch was even born. That being said, "Lynchian" is a pretty apt descriptor for this movie. There are scenes that brought to mind the stranger moments of Twin Peaks and its movie adaptation, Blue Velvet, Lost Highway, and even Eraserhead to a small extent.
I can also detect the avant-garde style of Buñel, the fast editing of Darren Aronofsky, the maximalism of Luc Besson, and even traces of 2000's horror near the end. The opening credits even use a very similar typefont to the one that Gaspar Noé often uses. This takes as much from Torso as it does from Un Chien Andalou. Yet despite all the influences here, it feels like it has its own vision.
Befitting of its surrealist inspirations, the movie is quite hard to follow. The main plot is clear: a man is looking for his missing wife. Yet the weird narrative structure and all the visual flourishes throughout make things very hazy. I don't normally rewatch something less than a couple months after my first watch, but for this, I felt I had to make an exception. There was that much to unpack here.
And this really does benefit from multiple watches. Not only are plot points more clear, but certain parts end up becoming easier to understand amidst the sheen of surrealism. It's still somewhat incomprehensible in parts, but decidedly less so. And with each watch, I find something new about it.
A lot of the violence here is done more artistically than anything else, which is another trait it shares with giallo. As a result, they are among the more standout moments here. One such scene that particularly stuck with me is the (possibly a dream) sequence with the killer literally getting inside a victim and using his body to stab himself, like a deranged form of possession.
I do think the ending could've been trimmed a bit. It does seem to drag somewhat by then. Otherwise, this seems to be one of those films that, the more you watch it, the more there is to uncover. There is even a shot of a Matryoshka doll, which I'm sure is a cheeky way to remind the audience of how layered the whole film is.
Bottom line: this film is firmly recommended for fans of arthouse, giallo, and David Lynch. And if you're in the Venn diagram of all three, that's a bonus. Those who prefer a clearer structure in their film might have to look elsewhere, however. Regardless, it certainly is a film that sticks in my mind.