Le Chien (2009) - film review

Kevin and Jean-Claude are two men who live a solitary existence on a farm in the midst of unspoiled countryside.  Their shared tranquillity is disturbed one day when Jean-Claude catches the eye of Michèle, who sees him as a potential one night stand.  But when she meets Kevin, Michèle sees an opportunity to make something of her life...

Le Chien is far from being a polished piece of cinema.  It is clunky and uneven and yet, for all its imperfections, it also has a strangely beguiling quality that makes it a powerful viewing experience.  Indeed, it is the film’s rough and ready feel that gives it its authenticity and an indefinable poetry, blurring the edges of reality and thrusting into our faces a portrait of psychosis that is delicately poised between terror and pathos.   With a derisory budget of eighteen thousand Euros, first-time director Christian Monnier succeeds in crafting a film that is distinctive and haunting, riven with dark intrigue and garnished with an aura of twisted sensuality.

The confined rural setting and small cast (comprising just three actors) give the film a brutally oppressive feel that lends a sinister underbelly to the complex relationship between the three characters.  The film has elements of psycho-thriller and dark erotica, yet it is fundamentally about three emotionally crippled people trying to understand one another - the seemingly retarded young man, his strangely detached stepfather and the seductive interloper who seems to think that sex is the solution to every problem.

Experimental in its concept and its design, Le Chien does occasionally show a lack of coherence but it manages to stay well clear of arty pretentiousness.  What holds the film together is a remarkable central performance from Florian Frin, appearing here in his debut screen role.  Reminiscent of a young Anthony Perkins, Frin has that rare quality of being both sympathetic and genuinely creepy.  In some sequences, he is a picture of innocence; in others, he is absolutely terrifying.  Marie Le Cam and Jean-Marc Lebars are more experienced actors but have far less of an impact that Frin does.  Both Frin and Monnier deserve to do well after this promising debut.

© James Travers 2010

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