š£š£š£Ā Calling all my arthouse film shawties!
Firstly, good on the director, Julia Ducournau. This film seemed like a creatively treacherous feat, but it was worth it. āTitaneā explored two (or more) entirely separate themes about familial support and navigating an identity crisis with a sinister, criminal backdrop.
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āTitaneā is like aā¦
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ā¦a drama and a thriller and a mystery? With a twinge of comedy?
āTis difficult to categorize, which only adds to its allure. šš
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Shouts to the cinematographer (Ruben Impens) and the editorial department. Whew, bih!! Such a task with this one. Those two elements and the score were the highlights.
Editing makes or breaks a film for me.Ā (Well that, and use or misuse of an aspect ratio.)Ā The editing in this film was probably one of the better examples of how to apply cuts into a seamless style. It just glided through action cuts with ease.
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I was enamored by the use of low angle shots. Much of the Titaneās suspense was felt while the audience explored the world tilted up from the subjectās eyeline. It was sticky. š¤©š¤©
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The actorsā performances were beautiful and strange and awesome and scary and fun all in the same yarn ball. š§¶ This is the film where youāve just gotta stay the course and pull the string to see how the plot will unravel..
Agathe Rousselle was stellar. And haunting. Her performance as Alexia/Adrien is unforgettable. The first few shots of her suck you in. Youāre meant to drown in the abyss of her unrelenting headassery. I loved it more than anything.
The film explores the gender fluidity of her character as she fled a crime spree of her making.
And then there was this whole subplot of her secretly binding her chest and concealing her pregnant uterus from her “father” Vincent (Vincent Lindon).
Spoiler!! Oh, but not her actual father. Alexia faked the identity of Vincentās long lost son Adrien. Itād been 10 years since heād seen his son, so her disguise worked! (Or did itā¦)
Spoiler!!Ā Oh, and she was impregnated by tricked-out Caddy, so thereās that.
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I mean, “imaginativeā aināt even close to enough to explain where this screenplay goes.
And there were little sprinkles of comedy. I smiled at the screen like a simpleton. Delightful š„°
After the first five minutes or so, I forgot I was watching a film in another language.
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The fire and cerebral š§ Ā imagery was pointed and consistent, and a bit ironic in moments. For example, weāre introduced to Alexia as a dancer at a car show. She danced on top of a Cadillac (her baby daddy, if you will) with a flamed paint job. š„ š„š„Ā As the camera rounds every inch of her body, it stays on the exposed cerebral mark left from the childhood motor vehicle injury referenced during the filmās introduction.
Alexia finds refuge in a firefighter captain. š„ She pretends to be his aged missing son and remains mute to not be made. Lovely.
There was a shot of a rotating brain š§ Ā on the television when she quickly changed the channel from a news report about the search for her whereabouts, which was also a nice call back to when she first identified Adrien, the missing boy who she would later portray.
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The finale is just as remarkable as the introduction.Ā I honestly could not have guessed what would occur, but Iām extremely pleased with the boldness of the direction.
“Titane.” A complicated, clever, uncomfortable piece.
I fucks with the vision. ā¤ļøāš„ā¤ļøāš„