Les Diables (The Devils)

Les Diables: They're no angels....

I didn't think there would be a better film than City of God that juxtaposes children with violence/sex, but here it is - Les Diables (2002).

A disturbing but emotional film, Les Diables follows the brother & sister pair of Joseph and Chloe in an Of Mice And Men like journey to find the elusive dream home that Chloe is able to piece together from broken coloured glass.

Be warned. This is not a feel good film. There are themes of violence, nudity and incest, but that is not the end of it....

The clincher - the two leads are children, underaged and barely hitting puberty. Chloe is autistic and completely incapable of caring for herself, while Joseph is fiercely protective of his sister - to their own detriment. Abandoned from young, they have been continually outcast from a society that fails to treat them with the respect and care that they need.

In consequence, they have wandered from place to place, children's home to children's home - never staying long because the adults cannot understand that Joseph simply will not be kept apart from his sister, and vice versa.

Vincent Rottiers as Joseph; Adele Haenel as Chloe.

Hell hath no fury like a boy on a rampage.

Autistic and in heat.

It is heart wrenching to see how, in a huge and frightening world, how alone the two children are and how much mistrust they have in the adults and society around them. If only they would place their trust in someone!

These are the archetypal 'wild childs' - the 'Devils' that make the film's name.

Homeless, uncontrollable and fearful of social contact, they become a 'Bonnie & Clyde' style wrecking ball, descending into petty crime and anarchy - yet all the while we are painfully aware that it is part of their survival instincts rather than childish willfulness.

Couple that with Chloe's growing sexuality and her discovery for the pleasures of 'touch', plus Joseph's own dim notion of what it means to get too close to one's sister, and we have a controversial and potentially explosive European film.

Innocence lost?

And just what are you thinking, you damn perverts?

Will they ever find a place they can call home?

While not particularly strong in terms of production quality, plus the presence of some incredulously laughable scenes, such as the riot caused by a gang of children - what truly makes Les Diables arresting is the performance of the two leads, Vincent Rottiers as Joseph and Adele Haenal as Chloe. In particular, director Christophe Ruggia's treatment and portrayal of autism is simply oh so poignant and believable.

The film may be violent, but it is not a film about violence. It is about two children trying to find their way in life, trying to survive the harsh realities, all the while still maintaining the innocence that they bear as children.

The final scene may be a little predictable, but it is nonetheless deeply meaningful, and we are left wondering if they have truly at last found the peace and home that they are looking for....

Moometer Reading:

Moo-ooo..?!!

Exclamation for:

! Outstanding Lead Actor: It is a great pity that Adele Haenel was the one to receive the plaudits for her portrayal of an autistic girl, which she admittedly deserves, but in my opinion the true outstanding performer is Vincent Rottiers. In any other setting he would play a cuddly little boy, but here he delivers an out of the world performance as a boy filled with rage and mistrust, yet tentative, fearful and loving (of his sister) at the same time. And there is innocence as well, when his character shares a moment with his sister. His range of emotions are so complete - it is practically the most mature performance I have ever seen coming from a child less than 14 years old. Never mind Hollywood, Vincent Rottiers has set the standard for child actors everywhere.

! Outstanding Direction / Lead Actress: How should I put it? I wouldn't say that Christophe Ruggia has made an outstanding performance as a director. However, when it comes to Adele Haenel's portrayal of an autistic girl, which is yet another out of the world performance, there I have to give credit to the direction. Adele undoubtedly acted very well, and she has gone on to achieve some fame for herself, but her range of expressions are not as complicated as her co-actor. It really isn't that tough to act silly you know. But here, Christophe's own experience dealing with autism I suspect is a huge influence. The portrayal is superb beyond measure. Truly realistic and more so, the portrayal of Chloe's budding sexuality. And I don't mean this in a suggestive way. Indeed, as an adult, you'll be truly alarmed at how Chloe expresses herself, and yet you'll sense that this really is how an autistic child behaves. You have to watch the film to see what I mean. 

Query for:

? Incredulous Riot: When Joseph needs to enter a mental institution to save Chloe, he finds an old ally from a previous children's home, who activates an entire gang of children to break into the institution. Yeah right. What can I say? Viva la France!

Antichrist

Antichrist: A surrealistic sexual mayhem....

The idea of female castration just never seemed plausible until Lars Von Trier shows us how - in his controversial 2009 film Antichrist.

That, plus a bloody handjob; a dangling dead fawn; a bolted leg; and a falling baby, are but some of the disturbing images that haunt Von Trier's latest outing.

A couple struggling to cope with the loss of their infant baby (circa copulation no less) retreat to a cabin in the woods to help dissipate their grief.

The husband (Willem Dafoe) plays therapist while the wife (Charlotte Gainsburg) recollects her thesis on gynocide and the antichrist that she previously wrote in that same cabin.

But nothing is quite what it seems out in the lush, quiet forest. Husband and wife soon descend into an irresistible orgy of explicit sex and violence that will consume perhaps their very lives and souls....

Carnal sexuality somehow minus the love - though the chemistry is great between Dafoe and Gainsburg.

Willem Dafoe in a feast of visual and sound, though the actor does seem a tad Hollywoody in an arthouse flick....

An amazing if disturbing performance from Charlotte Gainsburg. The film is accused of misogyny, so don't expect her to play the heroine.

Beautifully shot on digital video and boasting some 80 shots of computer-generated imagery, Antichrist more than delivers on the shock value, but otherwise struggles to actually make its point felt.

Actually, what is the point? There is none, unless it is a study into the deepest and carnal recesses of the human soul.

The film has certainly split opinion however, with the film accused of misogyny and even receiving an 'anti-award' from the ecumenical jury at the 2009 Cannes Festival.

But Von Trier is no stranger to controversy, and he has his share of both the critics and plaudits.

Antichrist is certainly worth a view for its graphic and visual content, which is at times splendid and other times stark (but powerful). But you are warned - give it a skip if you cannot stomach explicit sex and especially violence.

Moometer Reading:

Moo-o.!!?

Exclamations for:

! Outstanding Actress: French Actrice Charlotte Gainsburg certainly looks the real deal as the aggrieved and disturbed wife, easily shifting between sensual to spaced out to deranged with convincing intensity.

! Outstanding Visuals: The visuals are not simply just graphic or explicit. The imagery is disturbing - yes - but that is coupled with visuals of the dark forest and the slow motion hail of falling acorns. The mood is mostly sombre, but stark and frightening when its needed. Lovely in a sick way....

Query for:

? Pointless Plot: Von Trier had been deeply depressed while shooting the film, which may explain the seeming pointlessness of the film. Perhaps Antichrist is more of a personal look into Von Trier's state of mind and being at the time?

FEATURE: Serbis - An explicit view into Filipino cinema

Serbis: Literally an explicit view into Filipino cinema.

What's a day like in a seedy family-run cinema in the Philippines?

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Serbis offers precisely this, sometimes all too explicit glimpse into the life of such a family theatre.

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We know it is a family theatre because of the big capital letters that line vertically outside the cinema - 'FAMILY'. But the only thing that connotes any kind of kinship in this sleazy joint is the family that runs it.

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For hidden within the dark confines of the theatre are a host of activities and characters that are definitely not suitable for the eyes of children.

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Run by the Pineda family, all in the name of making a living, the cinema features a glitz of romantic or pornographic films that attract not only prostitutes but also gay young men ready to offer a special "service" to older men.

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"Serbis" by the way, means "service" in Tagalog - a byword for the boys hawking their sexual services within the theatre.

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Coco Martin as Alan, who is about to get a shock. Let's just say the sex is very real and much more explicit....

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Strong performances from Jacky Jose and Gina Pareno as the matriarchs of the family.

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The only thing 'Family' about this cinema is the family that runs it.

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Those familiar with Filipino film may not be overawed by the live sex scenes that feature all too readily in Serbis. Others however, may find it a little hard to stomach.

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But Serbis is not simply a film about the gay culture in the Philippines. It is also a story of the Pineda family that owns the rundown theatre.

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But it is not exactly a story either, but rather "a day in the life of"... a revealing look into the various characters that come and go within the dirty, dank halls of the cinema (including a runaway goat no less).

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Such films are not easy to appreciate. One does not expect earth-shattering events to occur in the space of a single day. Nor would one expect any suitable conclusions to issues explored within the film.

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Instead, Serbis steams along to a slow boil, exposing the lives in detail of a fairly strong ensemble cast.

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A matriarchal grandmother (Gina Pareno) breaks her daily routine for a trip to court after suing her estranged husband for bigamy. She leaves her daughter and mother of the family, Nayda (Jacky Jose) to man the theatre in her absence.

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Little son Jonas peeps unabashedly at his sister changing. One assumes he would have seen much more in the theatre halls where he seemingly has free rein.

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Another son and cinema janitor, Alan (Coco Martin) goes about his daily chores with quiet stoicism, painting murals of nude ladies and clearing choked (and extremely dirty) toilets. He meets with his girlfriend for sex, then warms to the revelation of her unwanted pregnancy.

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Nayda's husband Lando (Julio Diaz), who runs a little eatery downstairs, tries to deal with a customer who has shortchanged him.

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Meanwhile, cousin Ronald and cinema projectionist (Kristopher King), receives a very visual blowjob from a resident prostitute, then makes eyes at Nayda in a sudden, perhaps incestuous turn....

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As a film that offers an unadulterated view into the several seedy cinemas found in the Philippines, Serbis certainly leaves almost nothing to the imagination.

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On the other hand, as a drama depicting the lives of people who frequent sleazy settings such as in this cinema, the film is a very frank and thoughtful portrayal. Akira Kurosawa's The Lower Depths this is not, but Serbis does make a decent shout for its sense of realism.

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MooMeter Reading:

Moo-oo?!!

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Exclaimations for:

! Outstanding Set Design: Carlo Tabije and Benjamin Padero breathe life into the rundown and dilapidated cinema where most of the action takes place. From the lively stairwell filled with wannabe prostitutes whiling their time away in the day, the murky toilet where grandma takes her bath, to the darker interiors of the cinema where a serbis boy jacks off a customer, these scenes make Serbis as much a story about the theatre as it is the about the people who run it.

! Outstanding Cast: Gina Pareno and Jacky Jose deliver very strong performances as the matriarchs of the family. Special mention also for upcoming actor Coco Martin who conveys volumes despite saying very little at all.

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Query for:

? Poor Sound Quality: While it is acknowledged that Serbis is a low budget independent arthouse film, and shaky camerawork aside, it is the often overwhelming background noise of traffic that jars the ears rather than to lend a gritty feel to the overall cinematography.