(aka 'Anatomy of Hell")
directed
by Catherine Breillat
France 2004
A film like this carries a strange set of attractions. Some
will undoubtedly want to see it for its hard core scenes, while others might
be hoping for something a little more engaging. I find it strange that anyone
would bother to see this film based solely on its exhibition of graphic nudity
and sex. While much is made of this element of the film, mostly by its own
marketing, it really doesn't amount to much. If someone wanted to see graphic
sex scenes then why not watch an actual porno? At least you know what to
expect and are therefore less likely to be disappointed.
The film tries so hard to make something out concepts that I feel society
cannot identify with or relate to. The dialog between the two actors is both
inept and incredibly pretentious. To simplify things, the film tries to make
the point that all men hate women based on their physical female existence.
The film fails to make this point on many occasions. The characters do and say
things that would repulse men and women alike, which to me don’t help us to
identify or understand either person. By the end of the film the only thing I
knew for sure was that I hated these characters. That's not to say that the
film as a whole doesn't have merit. It just doesn't flesh out its premise
enough to keep us from sticking around only for the next gross-out or turn-on.
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With a deep pulsating techno rhythm, Anatomie de l’enfer (Anatomy of Hell, 2004), Catherine Breillat’s latest film, opens with close-up of a young man slowly sucking a cock among trashcans in a back alley. Unimaginable a few years ago, films like Breillat’s own Romance X, Virginie Despentes’s Baise-moi (Fuck Me, 2000), and Gaspar Noë’s Irréversible (2003) no longer merely “suggest” sexuality. Even American cinema has caught onto the trend, as Vincent Gallo’s The Brown Bunny (2003) shows. But whereas Noë and Gallo only provoke for the sake of titillation, whereas Baise-moi is little less than bad porn, Breillat treats sexuality with the same respect that she does any other human trait. For her, human sexuality is as normal as the next thing, so why not depict it?
Based on her own novel,
Pornocratie, Breillat made this, her tenth film—le film X—her most ambitious
presentation of human sexuality to date, or should I say presentation of the
“deconstruction of psychosexuality?” Breillat never depicts sexuality in an
arousing pornographic sense, but in an almost Lacanian way. To Breillat, the
images and the words are important, so important in fact that she ended her
introduction of the world premiere with the following advice—or was it a
request?: “You are about to see images which will shock you, offend you, and
even repulse you. Please don’t laugh or boo. Please just observe the film in
silence.”
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Excerpt from Henrik Sylow's article found HERE
Poster
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Theatrical Release: January 23, 2004
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DVD Review: Tartan/TLA - Region 1 - NTSC
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| Distribution |
Tartan/TLA Region 1 - NTSC |
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| Runtime | 1:16:33 | |
| Video |
1.85:1 Original Aspect Ratio
16X9 enhanced |
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NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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| Bitrate |
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| Audio | French (Dolby Digital 5.1)(Dolby Digital 2.0)(DTS 5.1) | |
| Subtitles | English, none | |
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Features |
Release Information:
Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details: Chapters 13 |
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Comments |
Quality
of the film aside, this is a very nice presentation. The anamorphic image
shows excellent contrast and shadow depth. Colors look appropriately muted
save for a few scenes where bright bold colors are needed. Tartan seems to
have done a proper NTSC transfer as I could not detect any ghosting from
PAL>NTSC conversion. Sharpness and detail remain constant except for a
couple long shots that look a little soft. All three audio options sound
good, but was a DTS track really necessary considering most of the film is
just quiet talking? The 65 min interview with Catherine Breillat is
sometimes as cryptic as the dialog in the film, which makes it tough to
get through its entire running time. There are portions however where she
takes time to talk about the filming. This is a worthwhile extra that
helps to penetrate the abstract concepts of the film, if only a little
bit. For fans of the film this DVD is recommended. For those that are
curious it is a recommended rental based on the DVD's technical merits.
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Gary Tooze
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