Marco returns to Paris after his brother-in-law's suicide, where he targets the man his sister believes caused the tragedy - though he is ill-prepared for her secrets as they quickly muddy the waters.
Denis’ ensemble cast takes its collective endeavour admirably seriously, and there are moments of great visual beauty, but the intensity that the story shoots for is lacking, and the ultimate effect confusing and somewhat empty.
Denis’ sparse story delivers details on a need-to-know basis, right up to the finale. Strong on atmos, thanks to Tindersticks’ score, it’ll chill you to the core.
France’s Claire Denis shapes a moody sexual thriller with bags of atmosphere, but it’s too allusive to generate much tension.
One of the most visually striking movies shot entirely on digital.
Claire Denis' wonderfully murky, Paris-set film noir turns usual thriller conventions on their head. She pays far more attention to character than narrative or action.
It is macabre and dreamlike; the deadpan preposterousness is tricky to negotiate, but leaves behind an oily residue of unease when you have awoken from the nightmare.
It’s as if Denis is using the tropes of genre filmmaking and her own abundance of technique to disguise the fact that she doesn’t have much of a story to tell.
A needlessly jumbled narrative (Denis calls it "a succession of leaps") attempts to add a veneer of profundity to the sordid stodge.
Claire Denis
Total Ellipsis: Claire Denis on Bastards
Edinburgh Filmhouse, Edinburgh from Friday February 14, 2014, until Thursday February 20, 2014. More info: www.filmhousecinema.com
Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee from Friday February 21, 2014, until Thursday February 27, 2014. More info: www.dca.org.uk
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