TIFF 2008 Reviews: Parc and Revanche

Parc

Directed By Arnaud des Pallieres

Acting as an indictment of the elitist gated community lifestyle as well as a criticism of the kind of world that would generate a need for conscious retreat and isolation, Parc is occasionally interesting thematically but is mostly an unnecessarily avant-garde snooze-fest with convoluted and often conflicting arguments. Much of it boils down to egocentricity and the need to inflict individual ideals on a world or community unwilling to listen, which is communicated only vaguely through bizarre leaps in narrative and excruciatingly long takes of mundanity.

Living within an upper-class French gated community, Georges Nail (Sergi Lopez) and his wife Helene (Nathalie Richard) spend much of their time focusing on trivialities such as golf and yard work, while occasionally self medicating with intoxicants. This serene life is uprooted when their son Toni (Laurent Delbecque) falls into a deep depression, feeling disdain for the lifestyle of his parents, in addition to an outside world that seems entirely indifferent and almost hostile to his individual needs.

Intruding on this idyllic and sterile world, Paul Hammer (Jean-Marc Barr) fights his conflicting needs to both be a part of this lifestyle while simultaneously demonstrating hostility towards the need for exclusivity and ultimately finds his singular purpose through destroying constructed serenity by the crucifixion of Toni Nail.

Allusions to religious allegory, annihilation anxieties and the fear of not being included are fairly overt, especially when the story boils Hammer’s struggle down to the inherent desperation involved with the need for acceptance. Granted, there is an implication of pedophilia and bestiality associated with this revelation but the core fundamental values and beliefs exist regardless.

While everything in Parc is riddled with deeper meaning and greater significance, the film is so consciously dense and self important that very few will feel the need to interpret its heavy-handed symbolism with anything other than a roll of the eyes. (

Revanche

Directed By Gotz Spielmann

As far as depressing hyperrealist Austrian films go, Revanche is neither as nihilistic nor misanthropic as the works of Ulrich Seidl, nor as analytical and directly confrontational as something from the Haneke oeuvre. It demonstrates a pre-occupation with the darker side of humanity in its creation of a world filled with prostitution, brothels, drug usage and rampant violence but living within that world are well intentioned and compassionate—if completely damaged and ruined—people who seem to care about each other regardless of an inability to connect.

A strange optimism and beauty seem to exist within the world of Revanche, regardless of how cold the world around it appears to be.

Acting as kind of a reverse Bounce, if Gwyneth intended to kill Ben Affleck and have angry sex with Jennifer Grey and Natasha Henstridge, Revanche follows Tamara (Irina Potapenko), a Ukrainian immigrant, as she copes with routine violence and degrading sex acts while working in a Vienna Brothel and secretly dates a co-worker named Alex (Johannes Krisch). Wanting more for him and Tamara, Alex devises a plan to rob a bank, which inevitably backfires when Robert (Andreas Lust), a police officer, discovers Tamara and Alex in the getaway car.

Coincidentally, Robert’s wife Susanne (Ursula Strauss) has been regularly visiting Alex’s aged father for some time, which inevitably leads to their meeting and the development of a peculiar relationship.

Explorations of loneliness and the nature of happenstance are palliated by a surprisingly cohesive narrative that features realistic and often unnerving character interactions, as well as some performances that are nothing short of impressive. Much is asked of these actors, given that their characters are often unflattering, weak and entirely human, but earnestly, they each step up to the challenge.

What starts out as a slightly off-putting investigation of human indelicacy becomes a galvanizing psychological thriller worthy of repeat viewings.

Skin and Afterwards were also screened at TIFF.

Print Article

Email Article

View All Articles

How to subscribe to feeds