Rating:
Director: Coline Serreau
Producer: Alain Sarde
Writer: Coline Serreau
Director of Photography: Jean-Francois Robin
Cast: Catherine Frot, Vincent Lindon, Rachida Brakni, Line Renaud, Aurelien Wiik
Visit the IMDB page for full cast and crew
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CHAOS Rating: Director: Coline Serreau Producer: Alain Sarde Writer: Coline Serreau Director of Photography: Jean-Francois Robin Cast: Catherine Frot, Vincent Lindon, Rachida Brakni, Line Renaud, Aurelien Wiik Visit the IMDB page for full cast and crew |
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Review by: Memo
Salazar
1/27/03
I thought I was watching the trailer. It wasn't until a few minutes into Coline Serreau's Chaos that I realized we had actually begun the film. The hip, jazzy St. Germain music, the quick cutting, hand-held style, the fact that we had been thrust into the middle of the action… all of this fooled me into assuming I was watching an ad for some other action-packed French thriller. The fact that this frantic pace was kept throughout the two hours without ever becoming monotonous is a testament to Serreau's abilities both as a screenwriter and a director.
A perplexing film, Chaos could be seen as a commentary on how we, as a modern society, have pursued our own short-sighted, selfish, insular interests at the expense of real human emotional connection. It could be seen as an incredibly strong feminist film, since all the women are either victims or fighters and the men are all incredibly selfish, hollow creatures, unable to help themselves (unlike the women, who do nothing but help themselves.) It could be seen as a silly black comedy where the plot gets more and more outlandish as the film moves on, and the situations more ridiculous until we reach a somewhat predictable (but still wholly entertaining) climax. Truth be told, Chaos is a combination of all three, with Serreau skillfully weaving in and out of each slice in order to serve up a cinematic pie that defies easy analysis.
The plot, as mentioned, starts off believable and gets downright ridiculous. A cosmopolitan, middle-aged French couple, fully consumed in their fast-paced life of dinner dates and high-paying careers crosses paths with a prostitute needing their help… which they refuse. The prostitute gets her head smashed right in front of them, left in a catatonic state of near-death. Consumed by guilt, Helene (the wife, played by Catherine Frot) ends up trading in her old life -- career, failing marriage and all -- for an emotionally rewarding one of nursing Malika (Rachida Brakni), the prostitute, back to health. Paul (the husband, played by Vincent Lindon), on the other hand, just withers away into a pathetic mess as his wife (i.e. cook, maid, & housekeeper) ignores her "duties." The film paints both him and their son, Fabrice (Aurelien Wiik), as emotionally detached, uncaring, incredibly selfish creatures who can't see two inches beyond their own needs. At the same time, Helene, her mother-in-law, her son's fiancée, the girl her son is cheating with, the prostitute Malika and Malika's younger sister are all seen as victims of this male-dominated world; they all decide, in their own way, to play the cards dealt to them and make the best out of their situations. Malika uses sex to earn money that will lead her to freedom. Fabrice's girlfriend goes from being dumped to stealing away the girl Fabrice left her for; Malika's sister rebels against her father when she finds out he plans to marry her off for money (as is his culture's tradition). In the end, the women have, together, forged a new, fulfilling life full of emotional connection, while the men end up alone, left to face the pathetic, hollow messes of their lives.
On paper, it seems ridiculous. Were the sexual roles reversed, the film would be largely criticized for being misogynistic. A world where all the positive, strong characteristics fall on the men while the women are seen as helpless and pathetic? You can taste the feminist backlash just thinking about it. So how does Serreau get away with the reverse here? Well, the political climate of the last couple of decades certainly helps. Few people are going to criticize a film like this for being biased towards women, for fear of being labeled sexist. If you examine just the plot, the film is, by and large, a completely unfair representation of men. Serreau sprays her bullets across the male dial, from the modern player to the old-fashioned slave of outdated cultural laws. This is not merely an angry film, however. There's a lot more maturity at work here; the film is too well-crafted, too intelligent to dismiss as the movie world's equivalent of punk-rock grrrrl bands.
What makes Chaos succeed is its structure. Serreau has told a story in a visual shorthand, cutting in and out of scenes quickly, shoving new characters in your face without any kind of an introduction. This allows her to pack a lot more story into the two hours she has, but doesn't give her much time for character development -- which is why she resorts to archetypes and stereotypes, asking us to fill in the blanks wherever she can't. All it takes is a few seconds of screen time for us to realize that the man we are watching is of some Middle Eastern background, that he views his daughters as goods for sale and that his sons are held in a much higher esteem. Did the film actually prove this to us? Not really -- it's merely giving us a situation we've seen several times before -- in other movies, in pro-war news propaganda, on television shows -- and asking us to make the connection. I highly doubt that all Middle Eastern men feel no love for their wives or daughters, as much as certain parties would like us to believe otherwise. But, in terms of this film, it works; we get the point quickly. And what's the point? To show how people (in this case, women, but I hope we all have the ability to extrapolate) can rise past all the social, cultural, and sexual trappings that are part of daily life and live less selfishly. The rewards of loving others far outweigh anything you'll ever get from money, power, or sex. Serreau makes her point in a beautiful, entertaining and incredibly direct (without being incredibly obvious) way, packing the film with darkly comic characters, dialogue, and situations that dispel so many of the ridiculous aspects of life most people focus on every day. It's a tough act to undertake; I can think of many filmmakers in who's hands this would have come off as silly, stupid and sexist, but thankfully, Serreau never loses sight of the greater truth that runs throughout the course of the film.
While I can't imagine too many guys will be flocking to see a "Chick-Flick in French," they should; they could stand to learn something from it. I only hope that, if and when the "male equivalent" of Chaos comes out, women can approach it with the same excitement that this one deserves. If female reaction to In the Company of Men is any indicator, the answer is "probably not," which begs the question of just how ineffective art can be, even when it's good -- but that's another story. Coline Serreau's Chaos is a testament to the fact that movies can (and should) serve the filmmaker's own agenda, not anyone else's -- certainly a good enough reason itself to give it a chance.
(A New Yorker Films release. Opens
in New York on January 29. Expands to more cities at later dates.)
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