Damage

Just as the “resigned” Juliette Binoche entices Jeremy Irons to commit adultery, Louis Malle's penultimate film encourages a psychoanalytical reading. On the face of it, this is a film about a banal love triangle. One woman, two men. However, the woman is seeking a replacement for her brother and the men are a father and his son. It is an inversion of the Oedipus myth from the perspective of a husband (ego) whose mistress (id) helps him to rediscover the officially confirmed bond (superego) of suppressed desires. When, fully controlled by his instincts, he asks his new acquaintance, “Who are you, really?”, he attempts to push away some of the more prominent dark force that envelopes him. After years of socially regulated existence, he rediscovers himself, is fascinated, does not understand and loses control. Their austerely furnished, monochromatic meeting place serves as a dream space. Beyond the binding institution, outside of oppressive reality. The gentle work with symbols (blood – spilled wine) does not draw attention away from the ambiguously depicted characters, the man who loses control and the femme fatale who gains control (transforming herself from an object into a personality, thus at the same time ceasing to be desirable for her lover). Simultaneously victims and villains, both superbly portrayed. The slightly rushed introduction is completely redeemed by its simplicity and the epilogue that says it all: reality caught up with him, only idealised memories remain. 90% (14/02/2020)

Before shooting this film, Louis Malle probab ly had a chat with his neighbour Paul Verhoeven, who gave him a few tips and tricks from Basic Instinct, because otherwise it might not have been possible to get such a brilliant femme fatale, Juliette Binoche, who has the unique gift of being able to play with her eyes, and such a brilliantly evoked, escalating atmosphere of inevitable disaster, in such a subtle and ultimately searing and fatal film. The finale is an explosion of emotion that contrasts brilliantly with the raw, purely physical beginning. A little-known film, but a first-class affair nonetheless, a kind of hidden gem. Basic Instinct, however, is more flamboyant, more vulgar, rawer and even a little better. (27/05/2016)