Cendres et sang (2009) - film review

Since the death of her husband ten years ago, Judith has lived in exile in Marseilles with her three children.  In all this time, she has refused to make contact with her family, but when her cousin invites her to attend her wedding, Judith has no choice but to accept, despite her fears of what may ensue.  Arriving in her home country, Judith soon comes up against the violence of her past as she unwittingly revives an old blood feud...

Whilst it may fall somewhat short of being an outright success, Fanny Ardant’s directorial debut feature is a strangely alluring piece that is as intriguing as it is imperfect.  The dark themes that underpin the subtly complex narrative - repression, subjugation and revenge - are vividly expressed in the film’s brooding and oppressive mood which somehow manages to evoke both Chekhov and Sergio Leone.  The Rumanian landscape, which provides a backdrop that is as forbidding as it is beautiful, adds to the bleakness of the story and augments the feeling that the characters, male and female, are all trapped in cruel game from which there is no escape.

If Ardant had had more experience as a film director, Cendres et sang could well have been her masterpiece.  The film’s failings, such as they are, can all be attributed to inexperience, rather than lack of talent or enthusiasm.  If the performances appear stilted or unnatural, if the mise-en-scène looks a little awkward or if the camerawork appears too static in places, this is probably because Ardant directs the film more as a stage play than as a modern piece of cinema.  This is most evident in the way that the actors are blocked, in classical theatrical positions facing the fourth wall (i.e. the audience), but it is also apparent in the overly theatrical way in which certain sequences are staged, with a touch of histrionic excess.

Ardant not only directed the film, she also wrote the screenplay, taking her inspiration from the 1985 essay Eschyle ou le grand perdant by the acclaimed Albanian writer Ismail Kadare.   A genuine labour of love, Cendres et sang is a work of an indefinable beauty and haunting poetry that is only slightly marred by its obvious technical imperfections.  It is probably a little too soon to describe Fanny Ardant as the next Ingmar Bergman but it is apparent from this first offering that she shows great promise, both as a scénariste and as a filmmaker.  Vivement le prochain!

© James Travers 2010

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