Film Review
Film noir in Cyberspace? Well, it had to happen... Gilles
Marchand's long-awaited follow-up to his promising debut feature
Qui a tué Bambi? (2003)
is another eerily off-the-wall thriller, this time tapping into real
concerns about the growing social phenomenon of Cyber-living.
Here Marchand has concocted an ingenious variation on a familiar theme
with co-writer Dominik Moll, who has already put his name to two
similarly idiosyncratic thrillers,
Harry, un ami qui vous veut du bien
(2000) and
Lemming (2005).
L'Autre monde (a.k.a.
Black Heaven) offers a darkly
compelling study in obsession that exposes the harm that lurks behind
the computer display screen, in that tantalising other world in which
we are, all of us, spending an increasing portion of our lives.
Marchand and Moll take the premise of the good old-fashioned film noir
(the plot has more than a passing similarity to Hitchcock's
Vertigo)
and give it a cheekily contemporary reboot. A young man leading
an idyllic life in Marseille with his girlfriend encounters a
mysterious blond bombshell and, in his desire to get to know her, ends
up becoming addicted to an on-line virtual reality game. It is in
this Gothic monochrome Cyberworld that a fair chunk of the intrigue
takes place, but what the hero does not realise is that every step he
takes towards the object of his desire leads him ever closer towards
his own death, in both the real world and its digital substitute.
So ingeniously is the narrative constructed that, in the end, the two
worlds merge into one seamless reality and they assume equal importance
in determining the fate of the hero.
Without labouring the point or indulging in futile moralising, the
film's authors invite us to contemplate the implications and value of
such a split existence. Is it any less meaningful than one that
is lived entirely in the physical world? There are already
websites (the best known being Second Life) which allow people to
assume a virtual identity and live a whole new life in
Cyberspace. And there are, conceivably, individuals who spend
most of their waking hours plugged into this electronic fantasy world,
living a richer, more fulfilled life than they could ever hope to have
in the 'real' world. Could this be the ultimate fate for mankind
- to live our whole lives (or even several lives) in a self-made
reality which bends according to our needs and desires. What was
once just a far-fetched Philip K. Dick fantasy appears to be becoming a
very real prospect.
What makes
L'Autre monde such
a beguiling and thought-provoking film is that most of the story is
told from the perspective of its central character, a naive but
likeable young man named Gaspard, played by Grégoire
Leprince-Ringuet in his first lead role. As is apparent from his
memorable contributions to Christophe Honoré's
La Belle personne (2008) and
Bertrand Tavernier's
La Princesse de Montpensier
(2010), Leprince-Ringuet is well-suited to playing introspective
characters who appear outwardly well-adjusted but inwardly are
vulnerable and prey to perverse impulses. There is clearly more
to his Gaspard than initially meets the eye, and it is only when he
creates his virtual avatar (a cool black dude named Gordon) that we see
who he really is, or rather wants to be. Gaspard symbolises the
frustration that we feel with the mediocrity of our lives - we identify
with him because, by virtue of his central part in the narrative, he
becomes our own avatar.
If the main protagonist Gaspard is anchored in reality and totally
believable, each of the other principal characters is an obvious
archetype who looks more like something we would expect to find in a
video game rather than real life. Audrey, the Marilyn Monroe-like
femme fatale has the same detached, unreal quality in both her real and
virtual manifestations - a haunting evocation of the unattainable
object of male desire, a mix of siren and vampire. Her brother
Vincent is a grinning troll who drips with malevolent intent, and
whilst the full extent of his depravity isn't revealed until the end of
the film we sense his malign presence throughout. Even Gaspard's
girlfriend Marion is too good to be true - the virtuous,
happy-to-be-alive counterpoint to the self-destructive and sensual
Audrey. On paper, these three characters are nothing more than
thinly sketched stereotypes, but admirably well-played by Louise
Bourgoin, Melvil Poupaud and Pauline Etienne respectively they become
as fascinating, if not more interesting, than the borderline nonentity
who is Gaspard.
Ignore all the critics who savaged the film when it first came out in
2010 - most of them completely missed the point of it. Directed
with considerably more confidence and flair than Marchand's first film,
and scripted with far greater insight,
L'Autre monde is an entertaining
and compelling thriller that opens a whole new canning factory of
philosophical worms. Should we be worried or heartened by
the future vision it dangles in front of us like a tantalising piece of
bait? The quest for happiness is such a fundamental part of
the human psyche that we could conceivably all end up being hardwired
to our computers, confined to a world of our creation. Think of
it - a digital Nirvana that allows us to do and have whatever we want,
free from pain, money worries and income tax. Is this where we are all going
to end up, in Cyber-paradise?
© James Travers 2013
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