Even
by the standards of Philippe Garrel’s characters, Pierre is a real cad. In
contrast, the highly flawed protagonist of his previous film Jealousy was one of his most
sympathetic. Perhaps not so coincidentally, Garrel’s son, the popular French
actor Louis Garrel, played the lead in Jealousy,
but simply serves as the narrator this time around. It is a great part, but
the unfaithful documentarian is sure to inspire strong reactions when Garrel père’s
In the Shadow of Women (trailer here) opens this Friday
in New York.
Pierre
and Manon appear to be the perfect partners, both romantically and
professionally. She has long been happy to perform supporting functions on the
documentaries they collaborate on. They have something else in common too. They
both have lovers on the side. According to Pierre’s chauvinistic attitude, it
is all very well for a man to do a little roving, but it is unacceptable for
women. He realizes this is somewhat contradictory, but so be it.
Unfortunately,
Pierre is the one who discovers Manon’s affair. (This should go without saying,
but if you are meeting your married mistress in a café, get a table towards the
back, for crying out loud.) Since the somewhat neglected Manon was only
enjoying a little attention, she immediately breaks it off. However, Pierre
continues to torment her with his suspicions and holier-than-thou judgement.
Meanwhile, he continues to carry on with Elisabeth, an intern at the French
film archive. Yet, rather than having it both ways, it is more like he is
trapped in two dysfunctional relationships. In fact, it is the problematically
codependent and passive aggressive Elisabeth that initially tips Pierre to
Manon’s affair.
As
the title would suggest, gender double standards and the Garrel family’s
relationship baggage certainly inform Shadow.
However, none of the characters can survive Garrel’s withering examination of
their private lives completely unscathed. This sort awkward intimacy is an
acquired taste, but nobody does it better than Garrel.
Clotilde
Courau and Stanislas Merhar also might just be the perfect Garrelian couple,
not including the various Garrels. They are still attractive, but have clearly
been somewhat weathered by life. Courau and Merhar both exercise great
restraint in their confrontations, eschewing cheap histrionics. Yet, that makes
it sting even more when they slip the knife in.
