Zonzon (1998) - film review

In a French prison, three men are coming to terms with the emotional and physical torment which their incarceration brings them.  Arnaud is serving a six-month sentence for drug smuggling; he protests his innocence and will do anything to secure an early release.  Francky is a hardened criminal who has all but lost his wife and family and who seeks comfort in self-inflicted abuse.  Kader is in prison for theft; he is the most philosophical of the three men, he is growing accustomed to prison life and seems to prefer it to the world outside.

Laurent Bouhnik’s dark portrait of prison life (“Zonzon” is French slang for prison) has been praised for its innovative use of cinematic technique but it is a far from easy film to watch.  The film’s unusual visual feel transforms a harsh realistic setting into an almost surreal nightmare world, a place where tortured souls live a limbo-like existence, not knowing where they will end up and constantly haunted by memories of the life they once had.   From the point of view of style and innovation, Laurent Bouhnik has proven that he is most certainly a director to watch out for.

Where the film falls down is that it does not have enough dramatic cohesion or depth of characterisation to maintain the attention of its audience.  The characters we see in the film are interesting but give little away; indeed it is the film’s heavy visual style that keeps the characters at some distance from us.  This may have been intentional but it weakens the film’s impact greatly.

As a shorter film (perhaps 40 to 50 minutes long), Zonzon would have made a much more effective work.  Unfortunately, dragged out to a full-length 90-minute feature the film feels painfully laboured and empty, although its haunting cinematography does leave a lingering impression.

© James Travers 2004

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