Review

After his first two critically acclaimed films (Boy Meets Girl, Mauvais Sang), director Carax (who was hailed as the next Godard) fell into disfavor with the critics and public, alike, with his next film Lovers on the Bridge. In choosing Herman Melville's obscure 1852 novel "Pierre, or the Ambiguities" (itself a critical and commercial disaster) for his next film, Carax may have seen a camaraderie with a fellow artist suffering disappointment. Pola X is the story of a young literary sensation, Pierre (Depardieu), who lives a life of wealth and privilege in a Normandy estate with his beautiful widowed mother (Deneuve). Pierre is engaged to the lovely Lucie (Chaillot), but his life begins to spiral out of control when he meets the mysterious Isabelle (Golubeva), who claims to be his half-sister. Pierre and Isabelle abruptly run off together to a ramshackle industrial flat in Paris, where Pierre begins work on his new literary masterpiece (which is rejected by his publisher) while contemporaneously beginning an incestuous relationship with Isabelle and an ever-quickening descent into the depths of madness. Carax's direction is heavy handed at times, but it is always audacious and provocative. The absolutely stunning cinematography recalls both the rich textures of German Expressionism and the spontaneity of the French New Wave. The work of an artist in touch with his craft, Pola X is daring and challenging. (French with English subtitles)