Titane

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Zlatna palma za Žuliju Dukurno i njen drugi dugometražni film ,,Titane“ iznenadila je mnoge i podigla dosta prašine. Prvo, Kan važi za „muški klub“ u koji žene retko ulaze, a kada tamo zađu, po pravilu služe za dekoraciju.

Drugo, Kan važi za festival koji nije naročito priklonjen žanrovskom filmu, iako je sklon elementima žanra u onome što percipiramo kao klasičan festivalski arthaus film. U tom svetlu, iznenađenje je da se ,,Titane“, takođe prikazan na Sarajevo film festivalu u okviru ,,Kinoscope“ programa, uopšte našao u takmičarskoj kanskoj selekciji, a ne u programu ponoćnih projekcija. Dok glavna nagrada za mladu autorku iz „body horror“ miljea govori o trendu da se granice između „arta“ i žanra sve više mute.

Naša antijunakinja Aleksija (Agat Rusel) baš voli automobile. Doduše, ne na onaj konvencionalan način, nego prema njima oseća seksualnu privlačnost. Razlog tome može biti titanijuska pločica koja joj je posle saobraćajne nesreće, koju je delimično sama skrivila u detinjstvu, ugrađena u glavu kako bi joj kosti lobanje držala na okupu. Zbog toga ne čudi izbor karijere u odrasloj dobi: ona sa koleginicama pleše oko luksuznih automobila u vrlo specifičnom klubu za gospodu i kao takva ima svoje fanove.

Sa ljudima, pak, ima problem s intimnošću do te mere da će svakog koji pokuša od nje da izvuče telesni kontakt, ubiti ili makar pokušati. Sa te strane, možemo reći da ona pati od neke vrste psihopatije koja je čini teško disfunkcionalnom osobom i koja će je nesrećnim spletom okolnosti dovesti u probleme sa zakonom. Drugi izvor problema je njena već spomenuta seksualna privlačnost prema automobilima, posebno prema njenom zlatnom „kadilaku“ sa kojim će i zatrudneti.

Da, dobro ste pročitali. Aleksija nosi „kadilakovo“ dete, oseća bolove tipične za trudnoću koja napreduje brže nego klasične, te pušta ulje na sve otvore umesto uobičajenih telesnih tečnosti. Bežeći od zakona, ona smišlja plan da se preruši u mladića koji se godinama vodi kao nestao (i zato uz puno bolova trakom oblepljuje dojke i trbuh), preda policiji i stupi u kontakt s njegovim ocem.

Otac Vensan (Vensan Lindon) je vatrogasac koji živi u stanu iznad vatrogasnog doma i shrvan je bolom od gubitka sina. Njih dvoje će uprkos Vensanovoj napadnosti i Aleksijinoj / Adrijanovoj defanzivnosti polako izgraditi odnos nalik na onaj između oca i sina. Međutim, termin za porođaj se približava, a Aleksija više ne može da se krije...

Iz opisa je jasno da je ,,Titane“ jedan od najbizarnijih filmova godine, ali i da se dotiče nekih izuzetno važnih tema, poput nasilja, odnosa između rodnih i seksualnih identiteta, muškog i ženskog pogleda na svet, ljudske nesreće i potrebe za ljubavlju, emocionalnom koliko i telesnom. Horor izazvan promenama na telu je i te kako prisutan (možda za nijansu manje i svakako na drugačiji način nego što je to bio slučaj s autorkinim prethodnim filmom ,,Raw“). Tako se u svetu filma ,,Titane“ spajaju svetovi Dejvida Kronenberga i Gaspara Noea kroz jedinstveni filter Žulije Dukurno i Novog-novog (feminističkog) francuskog ekstremnog filma.

,,Titane“ nije samo intrigantan na tematskom planu, nego i na auditivnom (muzika je izvrsna) i na vizuelnom (kombinacija neonske, hladno-buržoaske i estetike odvratnog). Elegancija s kojom Žulija Dukurno režira neke od ranijih scena zapravo je impresivna. Jedini problem s filmom je tročinska struktura, koja između provokativnog uvoda i izuzetno uspelog zaključka, smešta jedan manji pad i zapravo predvidljiv pasaž upoznavanja dvoje ranjenih ljudi. Ali i pored toga, ,,Titane“ je film koji se jednostavno mora gledati, verovatno i više puta.

A Film a Week - Raw / Grave

People vomiting. People fainting. People leaving the theatre, not being able to handle the film. At the festival, of all places. For a horror film genre niche, that is a kind of advertisement and it usually implies either excessive gore (what would be more excessive regarding gore in the time of ISIS videos floating freely on the internet, it is hard to tell) or taking on a taboo. More often than not, a film cannot rise to the standards of the hype it is creating, but Raw is not just another unimaginative, lazy and underwhelming genre piece. On the contrary, it is a rare gem: a completely successful parable of coming of age and sexual awakening of its female protagonist through nothing less shocking than cannibalism.

Justine (played by a relatively unknown Garance Marillier) comes from a family of militant vegetarians and is about to start her studies at the prestigious vet school in French countryside, which is also a family tradition. It is her first week at the college and she is about to be exposed to brutal, military-style hazing rituals that include driving the freshmen to an abandoned school facility, a mandatory practice of addressing senior students as “elders” or “the great ones”, to obey their commands and allow to be covered in blood and paint. Although Justine’s sister Alexia (Swiss actress Ella Rumpf) is an “elder”, a campus goth, sex goddess and an “alpha”, but even she cannot or would not save her from the initiation ritual: eating a raw rabbit kidney.

A strong allergic reaction is just a start of Justine’s trouble. Tasting the raw meat will leave her craving for more, and just plain chicken will not cut the deal. Nobody is safe, not even her gay roommate Adrien (Rabah Nait Outfella). In her fantasy, he is attractive enough to turn into a juicy steak.

The opening scene of a traffic accident shot from afar in the way that leaves us uncertain who is to blame, is starting to make sense now, and the relationship between sisters is kind of mentor-like but not idyllic as it would be expected. Contrary to the vamp Alexia, virginal Justine is not handling that well the change of her body and psyche. Be prepared for a stream of nasty little details like bikini waxing gone wrong, fingers cut off, bloody bites and self-mutilation. Just to be sure where we are, animals do not fare that well either, so there will be dead dogs, constipated cows and horses operated by somewhat primitive instruments.

Aided by the cinematographer Ruben Impens whose unpleasant close-ups are altering with static, beautifully composed wide takes in cold bluish palette, aided by Ben Wheatley’s composer Jim Williams inspiring score and music choices, and her perfectly casted acting ensemble (with the army of extras), Julia Ducournau pays attention to every detail in this deliberately paced, perfectly rhythmic and very intense multi-layered film. Clearly, it is all about female sexual awakening and carnal pleasures, but also there is an angle about family, school and medicine not being able to understand nor to explain the mysteries of a body in the changing process. There is a lot of sex and meat to devour, there are brutality and sibling rivalry, but the humour is no less important : one of the most memorable scenes includes a pissing contest between the sisters. Ducournau never loses control until the clean-cut ending.

Julia Ducournau is a first-timer which almost comes as a surprise after having watched the film. Of course, Raw is so frank, raw and insightful about a woman’s body and mind that it seems logical it was made by a female director. But the level of skill, the scope of perspective, the number of layers and juggling with all of them would rarely fit the description of a young, first-time director. Ducournau takes her clues from the masters, so we can see the echoes of Polanski’s Repulsion, Zulawski’s psychology of characters, De Palma’s obsession with female adolescence and repressions (Carrie, aswell as Sisters) and Cronenberg’s body horror taken to another level of gore, but she remains true to herself, original and fresh. Raw has all the indications that we can expect big from Julia Ducournau.