Boris
Malinsky is Russian-born, but he is now sufficiently Canadian to give the Anglo
Prime Minister the stink eye for his iffy French. Malinsky is a hard man and a
difficult man, but he might change his ways for the sake of his spiritually
ailing wife in Denis Côté’s Boris Without
Béatrice
(trailer here),
which opens tomorrow in New York at the Anthology Film Archives.
If
you think Malinsky’s chrome dome looks imperious, wait till you see how he acts
when a sales clerk asks for his email address. He is a successful factory
owner, but his manner and bearing are supposed to bring to mind Tom Wolfe’s
Masters of the Universe. Malinsky finds himself in a rather awkward position
now that his cabinet minister wife Béatrice has slipped into a state of
catatonic depression. He has taken a leave of absence to care for her, but he
has mostly concentrated on his interests, including an extramarital affair with
Helga, an employee. However, he is about to get a wake-up call.
The
mystery man billed as “l'Inconnu” or “the Unknown” and later called “Mr. Lewis”
will call Malinsky to a late-night meeting in the local quarry to deliver or
stern warning. His pride and self-centered behavior have caused Béatrice’s
malady, so he must repent and reform now or risk losing her forever. Malinsky
is not inclined to be bullied, but l’Inconnu is highly convincingly, like a
cross between the Ghost of Christmas Present and Quilty from Kubrick’s Lolita or Monsieur Oscar from Holy Motors, which would make sense,
since he is played Denis Lavant.
Lavant
manages to be both impish and demonic, especially while regaling the Malinsky
family with the myth of Tantalus, which seems an unduly harsh analogue to impose
on Malinsky. Whether or not he redeems himself, James Hyndman’s super
performance as Malinsky certainly redeems the film. While he can be caustically
droll in a way the Dowager Countess from Downton
Abbey would appreciate, he is also quite poignant when portraying Malinsky’s
attempts to reconcile with his entitled left-wing activist daughter and his
emotionally distant mother.
