|
|
KNIFE+HEART
Director: Yann Gonzalez Cast: Vanessa Paradis, Kate Moran, Nicolas Maury, Jonathan Genet, Khaled Alouach, Félix Maritaud, Bertrand Mandico, Bastien Waultier, Thibault Servière, Pierre Emö, Pierre Pirol, Jules Ritmanic MPAA
Rating: Running Time: 1:50 Release Date: 3/14/19 (limited); 4/5/19 (wider) |
|
Review by Mark Dujsik | April 4, 2019 If not for the gruesome murders, one could call Knife+Heart a comedy, and if not for the cheekily over-the-top portrayal of the gay pornography scene in the late 1970s, one could call co-writer/director Yann Gonzalez's film a horror story. It's both of those things, and it's neither of them. Amidst the often jarring juxtaposition of sex and violence, as well as humor and terror, the film also provides a relationship drama, a mystery, and a melancholy study of how hateful violence becomes a cycle. The more serious sides of this apparently incongruous tale, in other words, win out in the end. That seeming incongruity of tones, though, is part of the film's appeal. The wild shifts may not make a lot of sense in the moment, and they definitely make even less sense in retrospect. Still, the film forces us to constantly re-assess its purpose, which is something that probably couldn't be said if Gonzalez played this material in one, distinct mode. The story opens with the brutal, sexualized murder of a pornography actor. We then meet Anne (Vanessa Paradis), a porn director who makes her movies on the quick and the cheap. She has had a falling out with her longtime lover Loïs (Kate Moran), who edits Anne's movies. The disintegration of that relationship gives Anne a new purpose: to make a pornographic movie that really matters. The murder of yet another of the production house's ensemble gives Anne a story to tell, about a series of murders and the investigation into them—with a lot of sex thrown into the plot, of course. As for the actual plot here, it becomes a mystery, with seemingly supernatural elements (including visions of some possible tragedy and blind birds, which seem to serve as omens of impending doom), about the identity of the killer. Despite the tonal identity crisis of the first acts, Gonzalez and Cristiano Mangione's screenplay becomes surprisingly well-structured, as Anne starts her own search and becomes desperate to regain her relationship with Loïs. This may be a difficult film to explain, categorize, and, at times, watch, but it does constantly evolve. As one might expect from the title, Knife+Heart ultimately is about profound pain and passion, the sometimes uncomfortable link between the two (as well as the link between art and reality), and how neither fades with any ease. Copyright © 2019 by Mark Dujsik. All rights reserved. |
Buy Related Products Buy the Soundtrack (Digital Download)
|
