Review of Bastards (2013) by Ben S — 10 May 2014

Bastards, the new film from French director Claire Denis, is not so much told as experienced in half glanced moments of voyeurism and atmosphere. This is minimal humanist noir that requires a level of real engagement from the outset with very little given away for free, forcing us to interpret and decipher events along with our protagonist, Marco (Vincent Lindon).

Urgently returning to Paris at the behest of his sister, Marco finds his family's life in chaos. A missing teenage girl, suicide and dire financial worries await - it's all a far cry from his life as a ship's captain on the open sea. While renting a cavernous, unfurnished apartment in the city he begins to investigate his niece's disappearance, but the allure of the wealthy sexually unfulfilled housewife Raphaëlle (Chiara Mastroianni) just down the hall proves a major distraction. When putting his carnality to one side Marco is drawn into a criminal underworld of violence and exploitation, as he tracks the layers of corruption that he hopes will lead his family out of the blackest of times.

The opening is a spellbinding, disorientating shot of rain hammering down at night - it almost seems to change direction as the scene is prolonged. Or perhaps it isn't even rain. It could be the tarmac of a road rushing by beneath a car. The film is full of moments like this, unexplained and ambiguous, offering us the briefest time to draw conclusions while holding its secrets just outside the frame. An expressionist approach, to what in the end is a fairly accepted noir narrative that conceals the taut trappings of a thriller below the physical and enigmatic surface details.

Tightly cropped faces and hands dominate Bastards, making it an overtly tactile experience. From Marco's weather beaten, sun hardened face to the sleek lines of his vintage Alfa Romeo, Denis is concerned with the sensual touch of flesh and form - with flashes of burning eroticism always just below the surface.

Despite never really offering us much in the way of background about its characters the film's observational approach, snipped into short scenes with minimal exposition, allows a tremendous degree of development. It demands constant engagement, and we place all our focus on these glimpsed vignettes of life, garnering more from a silent gesture than a lengthy scene of dialogue.

When broken down this is a gripping detective noir in the great tradition of Raymond Chandler with Marco as our aloof hard-boiled Philip Marlowe. The high ceilinged apartments of Paris are counterpointed with shady streets and back alleys in the custom of all the greatest, murkiest detective literature. Even with this secondary narrative drive Bastards is a film principally concerned with atmosphere - and what a dark, suffocating atmosphere it evokes. It envelops us from the opening second to the last, playing with the conventions of film noir in its winding mysteries and fleshy appetite.