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 "Never for one moment does this shimmering, simmering emotional desert storm of a film relax its grip on your senses" - Peter Bradshaw "Dudes. Rocks." - Osita Nwanevu A loose adaption of a Herman Melville novel by the French filmaker Claire Denis, this film tells the story of a unit leader in the French Foreign Legion and a new recruit. I don't want to say much about this movie as I think it's really something that has to be experienced, it's the embodiment of "show don't tell", and writing about it can't really change that. If you look for reviews online you may find many of them (especially very positive ones) kind of annoying and off-putting like I did but feel free to ignore them, it really is an excellent film and succeeds where so many arthouse films fail. It kind of makes me think of those dishes at fancy restaurants where the chef separates out all the elements of a dish - the flavours, texture, colours - into different physical objects and then puts them back together in a way that is both familiar and new. A couple of shots made me think of the more recent films of Kathryn Bigelow: there is an at time alien quality to the soldiers as they exercise, and also attention paid to how they care for themselves and each other. Some stats: * Opened to $21,003 in US & Canada * Second least viewed film on Letterboxd on the Sight and Sound 2022 top 10. On Letterboxd It's available for streaming on Criterion Channel and Max in the USA, to rent on lacinetek.com in France, and not at all in the UK.  e: please please watch this on a proper screen with good sound, not like on your phone during your commute. distortion park fucked around with this message at 12:08 on Jan 9, 2024 |
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Jan 9, 2024 09:46
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This is an excellent movie. One of the best in the tone poem mould I’ve ever seen. I love how it presents just how weird it is that those dudes are in that location to begin with. Like wtf are they doing there. Great focus on the movement of the human body and strong jealousy/repression themes. And the ending is loving perfect.
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Jan 9, 2024 11:10
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This is a movie I definitely need to revisit, I failed to have much of a reaction at all when I saw it and then I read all the annoying reviews and felt like I didn't "get" it. Agreed on the ending being perfect though.
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Jan 9, 2024 11:59
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olorum posted:This is a movie I definitely need to revisit, I failed to have much of a reaction at all when I saw it and then I read all the annoying reviews and felt like I didn't "get" it. I wouldn't blame anyone for feeling this way, it definitely requires you to be in the right place and state of mind. Personally I found the images of the men moving and doing weird exercises rivetting. There was something so real and physical but also alien about them. Just that scene where they jump in the big concrete pit and then jump out I experienced as having more physicality in it than most "action" scenes, but I'm sure if I rewatched the film it'd be some totally different thing that I notice! Escobarbarian posted:This is an excellent movie. One of the best in the tone poem mould I’ve ever seen. I love how it presents just how weird it is that those dudes are in that location to begin with. Like wtf are they doing there. Great focus on the movement of the human body and strong jealousy/repression themes. And the ending is loving perfect. I love the scene where they're just smashing rocks or something in a giant area full of smashed black rocks. So obviously pointless but no one complains or questions it.
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Jan 9, 2024 12:14
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distortion park posted:It kind of makes me think of those dishes at fancy restaurants where the chef separates out all the elements of a dish - the flavours, texture, colours - into different physical objects and then puts them back together in a way that is both familiar and new. Yes, in a general sense every film is different but when you've seen thousands of films it gets harder and harder to use terms like "original" or "unique" while being completely explicit. But the presentation in this one does feel that way both visually and topically. Escobarbarian posted:This is an excellent movie. One of the best in the tone poem mould I’ve ever seen. I love how it presents just how weird it is that those dudes are in that location to begin with. Like wtf are they doing there. Great focus on the movement of the human body and strong jealousy/repression themes. And the ending is loving perfect. Yeah, operatic music plays as Legionnaires chew qat, run drills, toil with pickaxes, play chess, do laundry et al. in the midst of desolate Djiboutian salt flats and beautiful waterscapes. Their training exercises reminded me of Elite Squad (2007) and Elite Squad: The Enemy Within (2010). But that's as far as I'd go with that comparison. Definitely has vibes of David Lynch and Terrence Malick which makes for an uncommon mixture. Also, the injection of a handful of dance club sequences gives it an interesting aesthetic. Simply movie magic™. I wish more films felt as fresh and unpredictable as this one did.
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Jan 10, 2024 00:13
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A few of my favorite scenes from the film (spoilers): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zUJCJNHXww https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZvkhKcdxzM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rop2r0PASlM
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Jan 10, 2024 22:45
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyRPmMi1Mio&t=72s This movie makes me thirsty.
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Jan 11, 2024 00:50
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A masterpiece. Can't think of a film that's affected me more with even less dialogue used in its runtime
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Jan 12, 2024 13:53
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 Credit
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Jan 12, 2024 15:18
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This film is one of my all time favorites and has my favorite ending to any film ever. Denis has a way of making films that are so concrete and physical in their detail but are still sort of mysterious. Like the narrative gets shaved down to the absolute minimal amount of connective tissue (sometimes even a bit farther than that, like in The Intruder) where you can feel sort of left out to float, but there's always something solid to grab on to. Just moving from scene to scene can be feel so unpredictable and exciting. I remember when I first saw it was a few years before the criterion release or anything, I either rented the old DVD from netflix or had to find it on a wordpress that had a bunch of hard to find stuff split up into rar files. Thank you to that random guy and his website for my high school film education. Later I saw it again on 35mm film at a small theater and had like a minor Stendhal syndrome experience, absolutely overwhelming. Chris James 2 posted:A masterpiece. Can't think of a film that's affected me more with even less dialogue used in its runtime For me a big part is that is as sparse as the dialogue the cast is really impressive. Denis Levant has such an amazing physicality in everything he's in but I think is at his best here, just total control over his body. The movie doesn't work if he doesn't have that strength and tension in him but can also let loose. Michel Subor (RIP) is interestingly enough playing a character who at least has the same name as his character in Jean-Luc Godard's Le Petit Soldat from 1963 without it being too clear if he's supposed to be literally the same exact guy or what, which adds a kind of meta-textual aspect to that character. Gregoire Colin isn't quite as big of an actor as either but is in a bunch of Denis' films and is one my favorites of her regulars. Just such a pleasure to watch all of them.
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Jan 14, 2024 04:08
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I caught this a few months ago for the first time and it's one of the most unique depictions of the human body I can think of, and specifically of men. It's a very hard movie to describe to other people but there's a lot of beauty in how people move, and the ugliness of the landscape helps to bring it out.
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Jan 14, 2024 05:02
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This is the rhythm of the night The night Oh yeah The rhythm of the night
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Jan 15, 2024 22:34
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This was awesome. Loved that intense hugging, and even something like ironing shirts and this weird tension to it. Incredible movie
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Jan 19, 2024 18:15
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I loved this movie. Such a weird, unlikable dude for a protagonist, but I still pitied him.
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Jan 23, 2024 17:35
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I don't think I've ever gotten in on the movie of the month threads, and this has been kicking around my watchlist, so it seemed like a good time to get on board. I'm not too familiar with Clare Denis--I've only seen High Life and don't recall too much. And I've only seen Denis Lavant in Holy Motors, but you don't forget a face like that. But I thoroughly enjoyed this. I was drawn in right away even before any meaningful dialogue starts happening almost ten minutes in. One of the reviews quoted on Wiki calls the story "oblique and languid," which I really like. But I don't think it's cryptic, necessarily, it's just that the underlying emotions are expressed through the pervasive moodiness of the acting and editing and pacing. And yet the motivations are often inscrutable. It's a wonderful balance. A few people have mentioned the tension, which I agree with. But it often came from mundane places. One of the exercise scenes early on had me feeling oddly anxious because these guys were vaulting over the obstacles half steps behind each other, as if they were going to collide at any moment. And later we do see them dancing, fighting, hugging, etc. It's such an interesting mix of repression and physicality. And you can read this movie solely for the personal conflicts or for the subtext around colonialism, the military, etc., or both. Pretty rich film. Great pick to kick off 2024, glad I got the push to watch it.
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Jan 25, 2024 15:19
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Finally took the time to rewatch this and enjoyed it a lot more this time. Definitely helped that I just let the visuals and the sounds wash over me instead of trying to ~analyze~ it. Also helped to watch it on a good screen with good sound as suggested in this thread (I think I first watched it on my laptop lol). Besides the ending, the favorite moment in the movie for me was the early scene where they go out for a night in town ("There was something very strange about that night"). Galoup enters a club alone, immediately leaves. The boys walking through town in uniform. Later, the boys are carrying each other on their shoulders. Galoup is watching, no longer wearing his uniform. I was entirely hooked from that point on.
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Jan 26, 2024 15:47
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olorum posted:Finally took the time to rewatch this and enjoyed it a lot more this time. Definitely helped that I just let the visuals and the sounds wash over me instead of trying to ~analyze~ it. Also helped to watch it on a good screen with good sound as suggested in this thread (I think I first watched it on my laptop lol). "Galoup enters a club and then immediately leaves. Then we see him in his casual outfit watching the troops celebrate. Did he go home and change out of his uniform? Did the club have a dress code? But then why did he just wander around the streets all night instead of going back to the club?" *DING*
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Jan 27, 2024 00:10
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I was rewatching bits of this and noticed a couple of things about the ending: a) that pulse in his biceps before the shot switches to the final scene is something else b) i think this technically has a "post credit scene"!
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Jan 29, 2024 12:02
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Watched, not quite sure what to think yet. Reminded me of Jarhead some with soldiers not fighting, but here more ironing and exercising. Also fight club with the jealously there toward Angel Face and Tyler being similar to Sentain and Forestier. The legion is almost a male paradise of sorts with just working out and hanging with men, go dancing with ladies on the weekend all in these beautiful landscapes. But envy/competition spoils this.
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Jan 31, 2024 19:20
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checkplease posted:Watched, not quite sure what to think yet. Reminded me of Jarhead some with soldiers not fighting, but here more ironing and exercising. Also fight club with the jealously there toward Angel Face and Tyler being similar to Sentain and Forestier. I saw this movie for the first time about four years ago and while it made an impression, I'm glad I watched it again this month. I was able to appreciate a lot more of the nuances this time around. I think one of my favorite scenes is the one where Sentain is helping the Russian (I think?) recruit with his French pronunciation while they're hanging up their laundry. "Hey, I can speak French!" Just a nice little character moment that made me smile.
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Jan 31, 2024 21:24
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Finally got round to rewatching this and I feel like this time I finally "got" it. The tension, the bleak landscape, how utterly out of place the men are, how their bodies and clothes are maintained with an endless progression of increasingly pointless tasks. And then the salt lake, a false oasis in a barren desert. I am also reminded of Jarhead (one of my personal favourite films), but while that getts across its monotony and stress nad ennui in noisy American dialogue, this film is so sparse and melancholic. And the sound design, each time the club music hits it's like a jump-scare. Hell of a film.
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Feb 21, 2024 08:01
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