If I had only watched the trailer for Left Bank, I
would have thought it was a fast-paced, action-packed special-effects-laiden
horror film, possibly like the critics' blurbs written on the DVD cover. Combining the two together, I might have even
imagined that it was a four-star “remarkable tale of the supernatural,” and
“definitely one of the best horror films of the past 10 years.” I might have thought its credits as an
“Official Selection at the Edinburg Film Festival” and “Fantastic Fest Film
Festival” pedigreed this movie beyond me to judge. Of course, I never rely on blurbs, trailers,
and festival credits, but I do often, like most people, find them
compelling. They often tempt me to watch
a movie I might not have otherwise. If I immediately reviewed a movie,
comparing my thoughts and the blurbs, I might not even give the movie a fair
review. That’s why I always wait, at
least till the next day, to review a movie, free from all the baggage, good or
bad, it also carries.
After waiting, I see
that, while Left Bank is far from the heights of its trailers and blurbs, it’s
also far from being a “bad movie.” Left
Bank is mostly the opposite of its esoteric hype and alleged acclaim. First, this movie is slow paced with minimal
action. There’s more action in the
heroine’s running practices than there is in most of the film’s running
time. Left Bank is also barely, but
still certainly, a horror film. Hairs
mysteriously growing from a wound and an apartment complex built over an
entrance to Hell (or something like Hell) are just a couple of things that keep
reminding us of that.
However again, is a good movie about the things Left Bank isn’t? I say no. Is the success of a movie more about its immediate effect or its condensed overall effect, after it settles in. I say it could be either or both, with the latter being the case for Left Bank. This movie, to use a fitting metaphor, impregnates you with thoughts, giving birth to new ideas about meaning later.
By now, you’re probably saying, “Come on with what
the movie’s about already!” Okay, I’ll
try to do that without spoiling the minimal but, I believe, effective
story. Marie (Eline Kuppens) is an
up-and-coming track star whose plans to compete in a championship are
threatened when she’s diagnosed with a mysterious infection. Further problems interfere, as if she’s
destined, one way or another, for another fate—one that involves running only
as a way to get away from something!
Through most of the movie, events are more tragic than horrific, punctuated
by only moments of hope. Sound
familiar? Left Bank could be any other
movie about a person facing obstacles in the face of greater plans. But, it’s not.
Marie’s relationship with a boyfriend, Bobby (Matthias
Schoenaerts), is something that seems somehow ominous from the start, despite
all we see. I’m not sure if it’s because
we know this is a horror film, or because we just think we know, too early to
tell. Finding out that Bobbie’s
apartment is built over an ancient passageway to the underworld only makes us
all the more sure we we’re right. Or,
are we? Is he instead Marie’s savior,
after all? Or, could that be the other
would-be boyfriend competing for the role—the one whose last girlfriend
disappeared without a trace? Why so
ominous, you may still ask? Could it be
that people in this movie keep using the words Samhain, sacrifice, and
underworld just a little too much?
Oh, I almost forgot.
How could I? Left Bank has lots
of sex, nudity, vomiting, and dirty panties.
Yes, you read that right—vomiting and dirty panties! (I’m sure the sex and nudity didn’t surprise
you.) As for the vomiting, is it again
because it’s a horror movie and people often vomit in horror movies? Is it because of something else horrible, or
something that isn’t really horrible at all?
Well, I’m certainly not telling you here. As for the dirty panties, could it be that it
makes no sense, and they just want to make us curious? Could it be because of the most direct
reason—someone wore panties while playing in the dirt and got them dirty? Or, could it be that what appears to be dirt
isn’t really dirt, but instead something even more ominous and strange—something
otherworldly and evil? Believe it or
not, this is even more bizarre in the movie than it sounds here. What sounds almost silly in a review is
really quite creepy in the movie, as if I need to convince you of that.
Back to the nudity, on a serious note, there’s a refreshing
voyeuristic realism about it, unlike what we typically see from Hollywood. When Marie gets out of bed in the morning,
after being with her boyfriend, she doesn’t pull the covers over her as if she
knows we’re watching. Instead, she gets
out of bed as girlfriends really do, without covering up, without knowing that
we’re watching. Hollywood usually
destroys the realism by reminding us that they know we’re watching, and it’s
only just a movie.
Oh yes! How could I forget the nightmares? No, not nightmares I had while sleeping during the film. This movie is by no means a snoozer. There are, however, some seriously kinky things going on in Marie's head, while she sleeps. They are just as real nightmares are—surreal things, connecting to reality in bizarre ways, scaring us even when awake, to think of what they really mean about ourselves. I’ll leave Marie's nightmares as daydreams for you to see; that is, if you can stay awake. Just kidding again!
Left Bank is written and directed by Pieter Van
Hees. It’s in Dutch, with optional
English subtitles on the DVD. One good
thing about the movie being slow is that it gives you extra time to read the
subtitles, although some may call that a double curse. Even though some will want to stop reading my
review at this point, I say read on.
Many a good movie has been missed by those with subtitleaphobia—a fear
of reading a movie’s dialogue and falling behind, while being distracted by a
foreign language in the background.
As for acting, it’s excellent! Performances are very real, natural, and
convincing, from beginning to end. One
thing that helps achieve this is that slow pace of the movie. There is none of the fast, choppy, Hollywood
editing, confusing our senses, making us uncertain of what just
happened. The realistic pace gives us
time to think about what’s happening, along with the characters, sometimes more
so than we want. In a particular scene
with a frustrated Marie staring pensively out a window, we see her face long
enough to know what she’s thinking—or so we think. Most of the movie is much like this in its
focus on the details of the moment.
Comparing this again to the movie’s trailer, it’s as if they took most
of the action and condensed it into the minute or so of the teaser. I hate it when that happens, but at least I
didn’t watch the trailer first to spoil it all.I could go on and tell you more, but more would be too much. It’s best to leave the thread that connects these events for you to discover yourself. As for me telling the meaning of the title Left Bank, don’t even think about it. I’m not about to spoil that, no matter how many times you threaten to vomit and praise me with compliments I don’t deserve. That's a secret I'll leave within the movie you for you to discover yourself.
Even with the honest criticisms I’ve made, I
must stress that I did like Left Bank.
It’s a refreshingly different movie that takes its time unfolding,
teasing us, ever so slowly with clues as we wander along. If you can muddle through its slow pace,
there’s something thought provoking in the end, albeit something you may have
thought before. In the end, depending on
how you think, Left Bank could be more spiritual and uplifting than it is dark
and horrific. That’s one of the great
things about a good movie, be it slow or fast.
It allows us to think what we want, rather than telling us the only
way. Left Bank leaves those choices to
us, whether we want them or not. In the
end, is it really the end, or just another beginning? Can a unique life lost be found again, or is
it, instead, a life lost forever?
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