Film: Slow Motion
Release date: 23rd January 2006
Certificate: 18
Running time: 84 mins
Director: Jean-Luc Goddard
Starring: Isabelle Huppert, Jacques Dutronc, Nathalie Baye, Roland Amstutz, Cécile Tanner
Genre: Drama
Studio: Artificial Eye
Format: DVD
Country: France
Slow Motion, by Jean-Luc Goddard, saw the French auteur return to his day job after a hiatus of several years. It is a sparse and reflective work concerned with three people as they reach a crossroads in their lives - a bare-boned narrative on which a stylistically intriguing film is hung.
The story, what there is of it, is a simple one. Denise, played by Nathalie Baye, is trying to leave the trappings of city life behind her as she trades her car for a bicycle and moves to the country. Preventing her from that closure is a former boyfriend Paul, Jacques Dutronc. He is a cigar smoking television producer who has a daughter, Cecile, from a previous, turbulent, relationship and a myriad of emotional problems. Finally, Isabelle, played by a glacial Isabelle Huppert, is a young prostitute who is trying to stay afloat in a world dominated by aggressive pimps and demanding clients.
The narrative develops little beyond that - or rather it does not dwell or over-dramatise key plot points. That is not the film’s primary concern. Paul ends up meeting and paying to sleeping with Isabelle, unbeknownst to Denise, although the event holds no ramifications for the rest of the story. Isabelle’s younger sister pays to visit the city with the intention of raising her boyfriend’s bail money by going on the game and Paul’s relationship with his daughter deteriorates throughout, culminating in her complete disinterest when he is knocked down on a busy street. Goddard seems almost contemptuous of the details, but in this film, they really never seem to be the point…
Whilst the storytelling is functional, stylistically it shines. From the beautiful rural vignettes that frame Denise and her bicycle, to a world of perfect spaces - colour-coded hotel rooms and marbled lobbies, inhabited by Isabelle and Paul. Expertly composed, often static, shots that hold their gaze on the subject mercilessly. Goddard lets beauty wilt and shine accordingly. The titular slow motion is used often - not in a smooth, ballet-like movement but in jarring, staccato bursts. It produces an alienating effect; it severs the audience’s emotional ties in what could be considered the film’s heaviest-hitting scenes. It is as if Goddard is at pains to remind you that he is control of what you see, and how you perceive it. A director who is not afraid of letting the wires show.
In the sound design, it is where he really flaunts convention, deconstructing established ideas of film scoring, replacing one with a fragmented synthesizer refrain that enters and exits scenes, running from one to the next, interrupting dialogue with a complete disregard cinematic traditions. In the film’s punch line, this piece is reprised by a full orchestra, playing on screen, in an alleyway. A comment on the obligations of a filmmaker to commit musical clout to a major moment? A surreal jibe at the artifice of soundtracks? Regardless, it serves to jolt you from the action, and it is here where the film’s major failings lie. A lack of emotional investment resulting from a lack of emotional engagement.
In typical Goddard fashion, although it could be argued it is a noticeable feature of New Wave French cinema, the principal characters are hyper-eloquent, monologue-prone, mouth-pieces through which the writer/director can philosophise. In Slow Motion, this often makes for exquisite, illuminating dialogue on the nature of transience and change, but it also renders the characters as somewhat one-dimensional. Jacques Dutronc is convincing enough as what could be considered the film’s antagonist, at once reptilian and charming. Nathalie Baye plays it straighter, although has less presence on-screen. No one character is particularly likeable, or well-rounded, and their motivation is vague at best. When Isabelle is bought into a series of strange and demeaning, although not violent or graphic, sexual acts they provide the film’s biggest laughs. Although there is sense of jeopardy in these movements, you are never moved to genuine concern or attachment. There is something stilted and staged to these scenes that carries more thematic than emotional weight.
Slow Motion is a clever film, full of writing both rich and labyrinthine. It plays a game between its characters who hear the splintered refrains of a soundtrack and comment on it. The slow, meticulous editing is refreshed with smart cutaways and the bold use of freeze frames. It is, at times, a very funny film that on occasion is not above laughing at itself.
For all Goddard’s assured artistic flair, the film stumbles in several key areas. The dialogue sometimes gets dragged down in its own lofty aspirations. Conversely it sometimes across as squeamishly misjudged when trying to be provocative. The performances are never completely successful and the strength of character writing isn’t strong enough to make up the ground.
A beautiful, brisk, film (a brief 84 minutes) that certainly invites a number of viewings and interpretations. It is just a shame that such a carefully constructed film struggles to make you care about it.
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