Film Review
Supposedly based on a true story,
Ils
is a superlative example of the psycho-thriller/horror genre that first
became popular in the early 1970s and gained some measure of
respectability with Stanley Kubrick's
The Shining (1980).
Director John Carpenter developed the genre into what we now term the
slasher thriller by introducing
graphic violence with his film
Halloween
(1978). Recently the genre has become increasingly gory and
disgusting, to the extent that the horror classic
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
now looks almost as innocent and inoffensive as an episode of the
sitcom
Terry and June.
Ils takes a step or two back from
all this gratuitous blood letting (and casual decapitation / limb
hacking) and shows that a far, far more effective thriller can be
achieved as a result.
It is worth noting that this is a genre that it is exceptionally rare
in French cinema. The only similar film of note is Alexandre
Aja's
Haute tension (2003), although
this veers towards Grand Guignol excess and appears unintentionally
funny in some of its more violent sequences. By contast,
Ils is far more restrained, with
less violence depicted on screen than you would find in the average
Tom and Jerry cartoon. The
reason why the film is so effective, and so utterly compelling, is
because most of the horror the spectator experiences whilst watching
this film comes from his or her own imagination. Horror is so
much more terrifying when it comes from the murky depths of our own
consciousness. This, after all, is where nightmares are born.
The subtle approach adopted by debut filmmakers David Moreau and Xavier
Palud for this film actually serves the subject of the film very well
indeed. The real enemy that the two protagonists face here is
their fear, not their human persecutors. Their inability to cope
with their fear and deal with the threat that faces them in a rational
way is what propels them to their doom. In most films of this
kind, the victims are tormented by someone of almost superhuman evil,
someone who (incredibly) knows their every move and has an implausible
knack of knowing just which corner to hide round. Here, the
victims are their own tormenters. It is blind fear that drives
them to panic and plunges them into a living nightmare, making survival
a virtual impossibility.
Ils is
a stunning film that reminds us just how dangerous and destructive fear
can be if we allow it to run riot.
© James Travers 2009
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Film Synopsis
Clémentine and Lucas are a young French couple who have been
living in Bucharest for several months. She works as a teacher,
he is a writer. They live in a secluded mansion, miles from the
nearest town. One night, Clémentine is awoken by a strange
noise. Convinced that someone has broken into the house, she awakes
Lucas and he sets out to explore the dark, sprawling building. As he
feared, Lucas finds evidence of intruders, but they seem strangely
reluctant to show themselves. The nightmare has just begun...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.