Sometimes
you have to wonder if Fifty Shades helped
normalize some downright dangerous behavior. This is one of those times. Sex
and violence are intimately linked in Hélène Cattet & Bruno Forzani’s
latest Benelux giallo pastiche, but it is not clear whether this is intended to
horrify or titillate the audience. Fasten your restraints, because The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears (trailer here) will be a heck
of a bumpy ride for most viewers when it screens during this year’s New Directors/New Films, co-presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and
MoMA.
Dan
Kristensen is in for it. Returning from a business trip, he finds his creepy Brussels
flat is chained from the inside, but his wife Edwige is missing. When the cops finally
show up, he has roused all his neighbors and heard a rather unhelpful story
from the old lady in number seven, explaining how her presumably late husband
also disappeared under similarly murky circumstances. Naturally, the flatfoot
suspects Kristensen, especially when he subsequently wakes up in bed, next to
her severed head.
So,
Tears would be downright plotty
compared to the Grand Guignol memory play, Amer,
Cattet and Forzani’s previous valentine to the giallo genre, if it were not
for their myriad excesses. Repetitive cycles are a really big deal for them,
but it is hard to feel much suspense or dread when the same crummy things keep
happening to Kristensen, with only mild variations that make matters
progressively worse for the poor slob each time.
There
is no question the filmmaking couple has quite the eye for composition and
cinematographer Manu Dacosse gives it all a lushly lurid look. Even though they
are not original, the musical hat-tips also set quite the mood. However, their constant
jump cuts, violent expressionistic interludes, and is-this-a-dream game-playing
hobble the film’s pacing, narrative cohesion, and basic sense of flow.
Frankly,
despite all the stylistic madness going on around him, Klaus Tange still gives
an admirably presentable performance as Kristensen. Nonetheless, it is production
designer Julia Irribarria’s team that takes the honors, creating a truly
creepy, yet luxuriant backdrop, like the Belgian (or pseudo-Italian) equivalent
of the Dakota in Rosemary’s Baby.
With its marble floors, gold paneling, and Mucha-esque screens (much like the
awesome one-sheet), it might just be worth losing the occasional spouse to live
there.
On
a technical level, Tears is quite polished.
Cattet and Forzani accomplish everything they set out to do, but the resulting
film is deathly static. Masterful visuals are all very nice, but they cannot
compensate for ill-defined characters and muddled plot points. Instead of a
sensationalistic indulgence, it becomes a rather taxing chore to watch.
Recommended for fans of the Maria Beatty fetish films John Zorn scored, The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears screens
again tomorrow (3/30) at the Walter Reade, as the 2014 edition of ND/NF comes
to a close.