Written and directed by Julia Ducournau, Grave (Raw) is the story of a vegetarian who starts veterinary school where she endures abuse in a week-long hazing ritual that has her eating meat with results becoming very deadly. The film is an unconventional horror film that follows a young woman who would eat meat for the very first time as she would completely lose herself in the process. Starring Garance Marillier, Ella Rumpf, and Laurent Lucas. Grave is an eerie yet intense film from Julia Ducournau.
The film revolves around a young woman who attends a veterinary school as a freshman where she would have to participate in a week-long hazing ritual where she and other freshmen are tormented by seniors as one of them include eating a bit of raw meat. Yet, the ritual of eating raw meat for this young freshman who is a strict vegetarian that has never tasted any kind of meat leads to trouble as she also endures with trying to fit in as well as succeed in the school. Julia Ducournau’s screenplay follows the week in the life of this young woman in Justine (Garance Marillier) who is eager to follow the footsteps of her parents (Laurent Lucas and Joana Preiss) in being a veterinarian as her older sister Alexia (Ella Rumpf) is also at the school as a senior. Justine would room with a gay freshman in Adrien (Rabah Nait Oufella) who would also endure the same hazing abuse during rush week.
Yet, Adrien is able to fit in with other students despite not being academically-gifted as Justine but does provide Justine a need for companionship. Still, Justine copes with the effects of eating a raw rabbit kidney as she has rashes and a need to eat meat which is unusual for her as well as this thirst for human flesh. During the course of the story, Justine struggles to maintain her sanity as she turns to Alexia who would unveil a secret of her own which is just as disturbing.
Ducournau’s direction is mainly straightforward in terms of its approach to compositions as it opens with this eerie scene of a car crashing because of someone standing in front of the car and it crashes. Shot on various locations in Belgium, the film does play into this world of schools where hazing is commonplace as it is mainly set in a school where there’s animals and classrooms. There’s also parties where Ducournau’s direction has her using some hand-held tracking shots to capture the energy of the parties as well as the slow-burn into Justine’s behavior. Much of these scenes are presented with medium shots and close-ups to play into the drama and suspense while Ducournau would use wide shots for a few scenes to establish the locations. Even in moments during the second act where Justine learns more about these strange moments involving crashed cars. There are moments that are disturbing as it relates to Justine’s appetite for human flesh that include a sex scene where she has trouble maintaining control. Especially as she starts to cope with her behavior as well as the abuse in the hazing as it gets more intense. Overall, Ducournau crafts a very chilling yet riveting film about a strict vegetarian who gets hungry for human flesh after a forced hazing in eating raw meat.
Cinematographer Ruben Impens does excellent work with the film’s cinematography in creating some unique lighting and moods for some of the parties and interior scenes set at night as well as going for something low-key and natural for the daytime exterior scenes. Editor Jean-Christophe Bouzy does brilliant work with the editing as much of it is straightforward in terms of playing up some of the suspense as well as some rhythmic cuts for some of the scenes involving horror including some slow-motion cuts. Production designer Laurie Colson does fantastic work with the look of the dorm rooms as well as the classrooms and places for the parties. Costume designer Elise Ancion does nice work with the costumes as many of the clothes in the film are largely casual with some of the students wearing lab coats.
Special makeup effects artists Olivier Afonso and Amelie Grossier do amazing work with the look of some of grisly moments in the film as it relates to the bits of gore in the way Justine’s rashes would look as well as her first taste of flesh. Visual effects supervisor Philippe Frere does terrific work with some of the film’s minimal visual effects as it’s mainly bits of set dressing as well as a few scenes involving animals. Sound editor Severine Favriau does superb work with the sound in capturing the atmosphere of the parties as well as quieter moments in the classrooms. The film’s music by Jim Williams is incredible for its mixture of eerie electronic music with some orchestral flourishes that also include some ghostly keyboard music while music supervisors Guillaume Baurez and Martin Caraux would provide a soundtrack that features some indie music, hip-hop, and pop as it is infectious and help provide a tone for the scene.
The casting by Judith Chalier and Christophe Hermans is wonderful as it feature some notable small roles from Marion Vernoux as a nurse, Bouli Lanners as a truck driver who meet Justine and Adrien at a truck stop, and Jean-Louis Sbille as a professor who seems to dislike Justine as he becomes very critical of her work. Laurent Lucas and Joana Preiss are superb as Justine and Alexia’s parents who are alumni at the school who are troubled by what is happening to Justine. Rabah Nait Oufella is fantastic as Adrien as Justine’s gay roommate who is disturbed and confused by Justine’s behavior as well as being uneasy around Alexia. Ella Rumpf is excellent as Justine’s older sister Alexia as a senior student who is trying to get Justine to survive but also exhibit the worst aspects of bullying. Finally, there’s Garance Marillier in an amazing performance as Justine as a young freshman who attends the veterinary school as she struggles to fit in until a forced bit of a dead rabbit’s kidney would have her become obsessed with human flesh as it would have her exhibit some odd behavior as it’s a very complex and dangerous performance from the newcomer.
Grave is a phenomenal film from Julia Ducournau that features a great performance from Garance Marillier. Along with its ensemble cast, intriguing premise on hazing and fitting in, a fun soundtrack, and some very intense moments. It’s a film that doesn’t play by the rules of body horror but it does show what happen when a vegetarian is forced to eat raw meat and it comes with a price. In the end, Grave is a spectacular film from Julia Ducournau.
Julia Ducournau Films: (Mange) - Titane
© thevoid99 2017
Based on Herman Melville’s Pierre: or, The Ambiguities, Pola X is the story of a novelist who meets a woman who claims to be his long-lost sister as they begin an incestuous affair. Directed by Leos Carax and screenplay by Carax and Jean-Pol Fargeau, the film is an exploration into the world of incest as well as family roots where a man ponders about his own identity and the secrets involving his family. Starring Guillaume Depardieu, Yekaterina Golubeva, Delphine Chuillot, and Catherine Deneuve. Pola X is an extremely dark yet exhilarating film from Leos Carax.
The film explores the life of a young novelist who once had a life of great promise, despite some of his family’s eccentricities, where he discovers that a woman he has been encountering could be his long-lost sister. This revelation would not only have him question about his identity but his entire life and work in general where he would live into a different lifestyle as he would encounter tragedies as well as despair. Adding to the complication of his life is his sister where the two engage into an incestuous affair that would become the centerpiece of his next novel. It’s a film that plays into a man who is about to have it all but the secrets about his own family life has him questioning what is real and what is fake while meeting this woman from the Balkans who lives a very feral lifestyle as he would move from this carefree yet idyllic lifestyle to something more dreary.
The film’s screenplay definitely takes the ideas of Herman Melville’s story as they would set it in contemporary France where the first act starts off with a look into the life of Pierre (Guillaume Depardieu) who lives in a lavish estate as he shares his inheritance with his mother Marie (Catherine Deneuve) where they have an offbeat relationship where he refers to her as his sister where it implies a bit of incest. Pierre is set to marry Lucie (Delphine Chuillot) as it would complete the idyllic life he leads until he believes he is followed by some strange woman whom he would finally meet on his way to meet Lucie one night as her name is Isabelle (Yekaterina Golubeva) who claims to be his long-lost sister. The second act would be about Pierre and Isabelle living a life that Isabelle knows as Pierre runs away from everything he once knew about as he would drift from place to place as they would eventually find a home in this shelter where artists and those on the fringe of society.
The script explores Pierre questioning the world he once lived in as the estate he lives with his mother would have places where he wonders about some of the rooms he’s never been in. In his first actual meeting with Isabelle, she would tell him through broken-French exactly who she is in this amazing monologue as it adds to the ambiguity of everything he tries to question. Once he would accept his fate in the film’s second act, he would be pushed away by his cousin Thibault (Laurent Lucas) who would later try to destroy him as Pierre is determined to create a new novel. Yet, aspects of his past would return to him in the third act where Lucie would join him as a troubled love triangle between him, Isabelle, and Lucie would complicate things. Especially as questions would emerge about his work in front of the public and the numerous tragedies that he would encounter.
Carax’s direction is definitely stylish in some respects but also has this balance of creating something that does feel very simplistic. Though the film starts off with this very strange montage of planes dropping bombs on cemeteries which is a very offbeat way to open the film as it showcases that not everything is as it seems. Even as the film starts off in a very calm and idyllic manner where everything feels like a world that a fool would want to leave as it’s shot near Normandy. Still, Carax would find ways to have elements of darkness and ambiguities lurking into the first act where Pierre’s first meeting with Isabelle would mark a major shift in the film’s tone. Especially where much of the film would be set in Paris but not in areas that usually defines the city but rather places that feels more like on the fringes.
The film would then become more stylish as the camera work such as some of the crane shots and set pieces become a bit more elaborate. Though there are stylish moments that Carax would present in the film’s first act in the motorcycle scenes. It becomes more apparent as the film progresses where it would include moments that are very dangerous and confrontational. Among them is a very explicit and un-simulated sex scene between Pierre and Isabelle as well as this very surreal dream sequence of the two making love into a river of blood. It would add to this sense of dark fantasy and despair the characters would live in as well as the continuing question of ambiguities and identity that Pierre would endure as it would lead to this very visceral climax. Overall, Carax creates a very unsettling and rapturous film about a man questioning his choices in life and who he is.
Cinematographer Eric Gautier does fantastic work with the film‘s cinematography from the lush yet colorful look of the posh locations in Normandy to the more grimy look of the streets of Paris with its low-key lights and de-saturated look to create something that feels more real and grimy. Editor Nelly Quettier does brilliant work with the film‘s stylish editing with its use of jump-cuts as well as fade-outs and such to create some dizzying montages and moments that would amp up the drama. Production designer Laurent Allaire and set decorator Regine Constant do excellent work with the set pieces from the look of the lavish estate that Pierre lived in to the factory-like home where he and Isabelle would live.
Costume designer Esther Waltz does nice work with the costumes as much of the clothes in the first act has everyone, except for Isabelle, wear white as it would become more ragged as the film progresses. The sound work of Jean-Pierre Laforce, Jean-Louis Ughetto, and Beatrice Wick is amazing for the way some of the mixing and textures sound such as the post-industrial music recorded in the factory as well as some of the film‘s eerie sound effects. The film’s music largely consists of score pieces by Scott Walker that is very ominous and chilling with its mixture of minimalist electronics and orchestral pieces while the soundtrack includes contributions by Smog, Sonic Youth, Fairuz, Nguyen Le, and M. Luobin Wang to play into the crazed world the characters live in.
The casting by Antoinette Boulat Outcast is excellent as it features some notable small roles from Samuel Dupuy as Lucie’s brother Fred, Dine Souli as a cab driver Pierre would argue with in the second act, Sarunas Bartas as leader of the factory home where Pierre and Isabelle would stay at, Miguel Yeco as the estate gamekeeper Augusto, Patachou as Pierre’s agent Marguerite, Petruta Catana as a feral gypsy friend of Isabelle in Razerka, and Mihaella Silaghi as Razerka’s daughter. Laurent Lucas is terrific as Pierre’s cousin Thibault who had feelings for Lucie as he would later isolate him and later try to create a schism over Pierre’s relationship with Isabelle. Delphine Chuillot is fantastic as Lucie as Pierre’s fiancée who is devoted to him as she would join him and Isabelle in their dreary world as she tries to deal with the decisions he would make in his life.
Catherine Deneuve is great as Pierre’s mother Marie as this very eccentric woman who wants to be referred to Pierre as his sister as she watches over his inheritance while becoming bewildered about this sudden decision to leave behind his idyllic life. Yekaterina Golubeva is amazing as Isabelle as this mysterious yet ragged woman who claims to be Pierre’s long-lost sister as she tries to tell him some truth as she is a woman with some great flaws but there’s something entrancing in Golubeva’s performance that makes Isabelle so interesting. Finally, there’s Guillaume Depardieu in a riveting performance as Pierre as this young novelist who goes from being the writer of his generation to being a man who descends into madness as he questions about his identity and choices in his life.
Pola X is a tremendously harrowing yet captivating film from Leos Carax. Armed with great performances from the late Guillaume Depardieu, the late Yekaterina Golubeva, and Catherine Deneuve as well as dazzling visuals. It’s a film that definitely takes the idea of incest and identity to massive extremes as it’s definitely not a film for the faint of heart. In the end, Pola X is a remarkable film from Leos Carax.
Leos Carax Films: Boy Meets Girl - Mauvais Sang - The Lovers on the Bridge - Tokyo!-Merde - Holy Motors - Annette - The Auteurs #36: Leos Carax
© thevoid99 2014
