Noir et blanc (1986)
Directed by Claire Devers

Film Review

For her first feature, Noir et Blanc, director Claire Devers took her inspiration from a 1948 short story by Tennesse Williams entitled Desire and the Black Masseur.  Her film - which is as boldly sensual as it is off-puttingly horrific - is luxuriously photographed in high contrast black and white and offers a genuinely chilling study in self-destructive obsession.  The lack of both dialogue and conventional structure adds to the film's frightening eeriness, and watching it you feel that you are experiencing the weirdest of dreams, a dark fantasy of desire drawn from the most profound depths of your subconscious mind.

Noir et Blanc sets itself apart from virtually every other film of its time by virtue of its shocking subject matter (sadomasochism presented at its rawest and most repellent) and its seductively arty stylisation.  Our appreciation of its artistic merits are constantly countered by our natural revulsion to its content, and Devers not only challenges her audiences with stark images of a man deriving sexual gratification from intense physical pain, she wilfully tortures them, making herself a kind of implacable dominatrix of her own morbid fantasy.

The relationship between the filmmaker and the viewer quickly acquires a sadomasochistic dimension, resonating with what we see on the screen.  We derive pain and pleasure from watching the film, it gratifies us and yet it revolts us.  We just cannot stop ourselves from watching as we grimly anticipate the inevitable conclusion of Antoine's nihilistic fantasy.  For this startling first film, Claire Devers received the Caméra d'or at the 1986 Cannes Film Festival and the Grand Prix at the Turin Film Festival that same year.  She went on to direct some other worthwhile (albeit far more conventional) films, most notably Max et Jérémie (1992) and Les Marins perdus (2003).

Film Synopsis

Antoine is a boring young accountant who leads a boring humdrum existence.  For his latest assignment, he is sent to a sports centre to sort out the company's accounts.  A shy and nervous man by nature, Antoine initially keeps himself to himself, but curiosity gets the better of him and he is soon trying out the centre's facilities.  He gets into the bodybuilding habit and becomes aware of his physique for possibly the first time in his life.  Next he is enjoying the delights of an all-over massage, expertly administered by a well-built African man named Dominique.  This is the beginning of a strange and troubling relationship between the two men, one white as alabaster, the other black as pure ebony.

Antoine encourages Dominique to beat him with increasing violence, savouring the agony that is inflicted on his body by his powerful tormentor.  Even after being hospitalised with an injury sustained in the course of one of these sadomasochistic sessions, Antoine cannot stop himself from going further down this destructive path.  His wife Édith becomes ever more concerned by her husband's strange behaviour, but he cannot bring himself to talk about his mysterious obsession.  Once his injuries have healed, Antoine is soon resuming his violent sessions with Dominique.  Totally addicted to the pleasure of physical pain, the accountant urges the masseur to subject him to the ultimate agony, which can only be achieved by his body being ripped apart...