Film Review
Nocturama was released in France on 31st August 2016 - just over a
month after a one-man terrorist incident in Nice that left 84 people dead
during the Bastille Day celebrations. The previous November had seen
an even bloodier terrorist attack, 130 people slaughtered by gunmen and suicide
bombers at several sites across Paris. And before this there was the
horrific attack on the offices of the satirical newspaper
Charlie Hebdo
in January 2015 by Jihadists. Against this litany of carnage
Nocturama
was bound to be a controversial film. It depicts a disparate group
of seemingly ordinary young people committing terrorist attacks in Paris
without any apparent motive. A mix of well-heeled students, housing
estate riff-raff and young professionals, the terrorists do not seem to have
any political or religious axe to grind. Their attack appears to be
gratuitous - an act of outrage committed for the sake of it. And this
is what makes the film so provocative and disturbing. It accords with
something quite chilling in the present
air du temps - a sense that
we are now entering a new Dark Age - an era of moronic anarchy.
Bertrand Bonello conceived this film way before the recent wave of terrorist
attacks in France, whilst he was working on his
fin de siècle
drama
L'Apollonide
in 2011. He even drafted the first version of the script around this
time, but it took him five years before he was ready to bring it into production.
By this time the world had changed, and was still changing, moving into even
more uncertain waters. The surprising results of the EU referendum
in the UK and the American presidential election were the most momentous
events of 2016 - and these, both acts of popular revolt against the establishment,
align more readily with Bonello's film than the terror attacks by Islamic
fundamentalists. And, with the Far Right gaining ever more support across
Europe, there may be far bigger shocks to come.
The odd assortment of terrorists in
Nocturama collectively embody
the nebulous discontent that is bubbling up in western society at the moment.
Black and white, smart and scruffy, the only thing these individuals have
in common is that they are all young - under the age of thirty. In
every generation, the young have always rebelled, but this group of youngsters
seem to be rebelling without any apparent cause. They bomb a prominent
symbol of capitalism - the HSBC tower - and yet, once the attack is over,
they luxuriate in the fruits of capitalism, taking full advantage of the
facilities offered by their hideout, the swankiest department store in town.
In what seems like an exact replay of the second part of George A. Romero's
classic zombie film
Dawn of the
Dead (1978), the terrorists, instead of fleeing to safety, make themselves
sacrificial victims to consumerism by surrendering to an orgy of materialistic
excess. As Paris burns around them - with striking symbols of commerce,
government and culture all touched by flame - they grab that part of the
consumer gateau that they feel is theirs by right.
After the cold realism of the first half of the film, where Bonello films
the terrorists' meticulous preparations with total detachment, what comes
next is quite a shock. We are suddenly immersed in a dreamlike fantasy
that conveys the illusion of consumer well-being in its most concentrated
form. Gradually, we begin to discern what was behind the attacks - an overwhelming
need to live the consumer dream to the full. What more powerful incentive
could there be than for someone to be exposed to consumer hype of the most virulent
kind every waking hour of the day? Surely no amount of religious indoctrination
could be half as effective in warping an individual's psychology and making
him or her a danger to society? What Bertrand Bonello shows us in his
most revelatory and timely film to date is a prophecy of terrifying proportions.
The greatest threat to western civilisation comes
not from religious
fundamentalists, but from a system that brainwashes us into thinking that
we can have everything, if only we had the money. Consumerism will be the
death of western democracy - and probably sooner than you think.
© James Travers 2017
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next Bertrand Bonello film:
Quelque chose d'organique (1998)
Film Synopsis
It is a morning in Paris like any other. The streets and the Metro
are crowded as usual with people rushing in to work, scarcely noticing the
world around them. In the midst of this milling throng several young
people who appear to have nothing in common exchange cryptic messages on
their mobile phones and carry out a set of agreed tasks, completely unnoticed.
Not long afterwards, several bombs go off around the capital, causing mayhem
and destruction. By this time, the individuals behind the attacks are
in hiding in a large department store. After the store has closed for
the night, David, Sabrina, Sarah, Mika, Yacine and Omar emerge from their
hiding places and begin to take advantage of the luxuries that the store
offers them. As the world outside takes stock of the attack and asks
who could have committed it, the perpetrators spend an evening of hedonistic
excess within their well-stocked refuge, not knowing that the party will
soon be over...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.