Review of $9.99 (2009) by Jean-Francois V — 22 Apr 2011

In France, "$9.99" goes by the more explicit title "The Meaning of Life for $9.99". Since, at today's exchange rate, that represents 6.8608 euros, and I bought my DVD for six euros, I might consider myself lucky, although viewers of the film are not actually handed a free copy of the book within the film that bears that title. We are only told that there are in fact six meanings of life, and the rest we are left to figure out ourselves. So I did feel a little cheated.

I was attracted to "$9.99" because of the claymation, a technique I have loved since childhood, and whose virtual disappearance in our age of CGI I deeply regret. However, this is not daddy's claymation. "$9.99" is an adult film, complete with bad language, full nudity, extramarital sex, suicide, heavy smoking and alcohol use and occasional drug use. Moreover, the characters are deliberately ugly, their skin dirty and painted with broad strokes, their faces dyssymetrical, in a style which reminded me of French artist Roland Topor. Even the model, who is supposed to be "like a girl, only prettier", is rather repulsive.

The film is an ensemble piece, describing a few days in the lives of several people living in the same block of flats and having to cope with unemployment, a break up, loneliness, divorce and various forms of rejection and, that great modern theme, "incommunicability." The genre is a mixture of surrealism and magical realism (involving one of the weirdest body transformation since the Lady Cassandra from "Doctor Who"), so you should expect the unexpected, except if you buy the French DVD, which contains a massive spoiler in its opening page.

I was both enchanted a repelled by the film, which is at once very tender and very unpleasant, very ugly and very beautiful. But it did manage to move me with little details (an angel's feather, a cute little piggy bank) and with its dollhouse atmosphere.

It won't teach you the meaning of life, but you can get good catechisms for $9.99.