Le secret de la chambre noire

As in so many cases of international co-production, or a director hoisted out of his own zone, the result is a mess. Production values are high but nothing makes sense. There is no Black Room as in the French title, and no effective use or depiction of the process of Daguerreotype as in the English. Camera history fans (who are numerous) will be misled by that title, and disappointed in the script's failure to use a fascinating technical story. Evidently the director wrote his own script, often a mistake. With so many story threads (none followed effectively) this looks like intended for a miniseries. Seven people are credited as producers of some kind: evidently they could not agree on what this film was to be? The actors zomb their way through, none connecting with the others, all looking as confused about the goings-on as the audience is. One tiny scene had some zing: an older woman materialises (unexplained) from the past and disappears into where is not stated. It did have frisson. Strangely, that actor is not credited in IMDb. The ghost stuff otherwise is completely uninteresting. Are the costumes and decor impeccable? No doubt, but for what result? The camera glides endlessly but to no effect.

I am a fan of the "the other Kurosawa" so I went into this optimistic. There are one or two interesting moments but neither of the leads can act and overall the experience is cringeworthy

Kiyoshi Kurosawa'a Daguerreotype is one of the most beautifully shot tales of the supernatural you are ever likely to see. This is particularly apt, seeing the plot concerns a modern master of one of the earliest forms of still photography, whereby images are captured on large silver plates. Take a bow director of cinematography Alexis Kavyrchine.

The movie also contains an extraordinarily creepy, apparition scene shot in daylight in a green house, that is supremely effective despite being unencumbered by loud noises, musical crescendos and layers of CGI. This segment should have opened a door to the film's climax. But it doesn't and therein lies some of the problems with Daguerreotype.

This is a film which is at least 20 - 30 minutes too long and by rambling on haphazardly following the course of a couple of less than riveting and unconvincing sub-plots, it tends to dig its own grave so to speak. Part of the reason for this, I think is that Kurosawa wants to add more tail to the film's key twist which occurs some half way through. The trouble with this however, is that modern audiences post Sixth Sense etc. will realise very early the reality of the situation and so many of the later scenes become quite redundant and viewers will be entirely unsurprised at the late big reveal. On top of this a couple of the plot threads involving a real estate agent's supposed behaviour in facilitating a sale and a father's (almost) non-behaviour following a serious accident, will have many punters scratching their heads at the contrived outcomes.

So while this film has no lack of atmosphere and is a visual feast, far more judicious and deliberate editing would have likely resulted in a better, more streamlined final product.

Daguerreotype (The Woman in the Silver Plate) is a French-language film by a Japanese moviemaster, Kiyoshi Kurosawa. A young man takes a job as an assistant to an old-fashioned photographer. The photographer has fully abandoned all media beyond daguerrotypes, an 1800s technique of capturing images on silver plates. He keeps taking life-sized still photographs of his daughter, increasing the exposure time more and more, to the point where she has to stand still for hours on end for his camera to capture her. His obsession is inexplicable, and soon the daughter and assistant try to get away from the father's warped world and pursue their less deranged futures.

The atmosphere of the film is enticing, to say the least. It has a breath of old fashion, beyond just the primitive photographic techniques around which the plot revolves. The settings, the shots used, the manner of acting, somehow both subdued and overdone, all channeled old cinema in a pleasant, tranquil way. It helped transport me to a different world, where I almost forgot I was watching a movie.

But the atmosphere is the only constant in this movie. The rest of it is confused, and meanders between several different plot directions without rearing any of them to the point of interesting. Not to mention that it doesn't manage to make them consistent with each other. It seems that the beings captured in the plates of the daguerrotypes exist with no purpose, and the movie just plays out melodrama around them. The plot points are sadly soap opera-like, basic (trying to force someone to sell their valuable property for a big project when they don't want to, a daughter that wants to pursue her dreams outside of home while her father doesn't want her to leave, etc). I wish the interesting concept of saving living beings into metallic photographs was part of a more engaging, more inventive script.

I do like the duality between the two men, assistant and photographer, all the similarities and differences between them and how they pan out in terms of the ghostly photographs. An interesting mirror. But neither character was particularly likable, so their fates did not feel as impactful as they should have.

With all its 'negatives', Daguerreotype is still a stunning piece of cinema by a director that treats film as art. It just fails to entertain or to leave a lasting imprint.

When an assistant (Tahar Rahim) to a daguerreotypy photographer (Olivier Gourmet) falls in love with the latter's daughter (Constance Rousseau) the relationship mirrors the art form as love and pain combine.

Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa has made a name for himself with his horror films, and may possibly be the biggest international name in "Japanese horror" today with films like "Cure", "Pulse" and "Creepy". This time around, he goes in a most unexpected direction: he is working with a French-Belgian cast in their language. Does Kurosawa speak French? How did this collaboration come about? It is most unusual.

Regardless, Kurosawa's use of murky imagery translates well to Europe, and blends with the themes explored here. The costumes are exquisite, evoking the Victorian Age and reminds one of classic literature, such as the works of Oscar Wilde. The daguerreotype of course adds to this, as the images it creates are synonymous with a forgotten time. This is the first film I have seen that makes such a photographic device or technique the centerpiece and is a nice throwback when other films are moving into the future and exploring the horror of technology.

The cast is composed of well-rounded and experienced professionals. For American audiences, however, the most recognizable face will be Mathieu Almaric, known for "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (2007), "Quantum of Solace" (2008) , and "The Grand Budapest Hotel" (2014), among many others. While it may be oversimplifying things, generally when you see Almaric's name attached you know you have stumbled on something special. This is no exception.

Kurosawa, as usual, spends much of his time building an atmosphere. Although the film has horror elements, there are no killers ready to jump out at any moment Instead we have an almost oppressive, gloomy isolation of a small family on a large estate that is more dead than alive. The camera, despite creating beautiful images, requires the model to go through an almost tortuous process in order to capture a perfect photograph. The "horror" is largely in tone and emotion rather than anything explicit.

Andrew Barker says the film "demands a substantial degree of patience from its audience without fully paying it off." Indeed, at over two hours, the length and slow pace will be a challenge for some viewers. Kurosawa does tend to run a bit long in his films ("Creepy" was even longer), but this may be the least amount of fright delivered in the time elapsed. For those looking for more scare and less foreboding atmosphere, it will not be as big of a hit as Kurosawa's earlier successes.

Keith Uhlich interesting suggests the movie "is reminiscent, in some ways, of William Dieterle's 1948 romantic fantasy "Portrait of Jennie", in which an otherworldly muse inspires a struggling artist". Surely this was not an intentional nod on Kurosawa's part, but Uhlich bringing it up does make one long for the Dieterle film. Perhaps it is deserving of a revisit? Especially considering that Kino Lorber has just released the film on Blu-ray.

Kiyoshi Kurosawa's "DAGUERROTYPE" will have a VOD Release on all platforms in US & Canada on Tuesday, November 7. (The film can be found on all major platforms including iTunes, Sony, Google Play, Amazon, Microsoft, Vudu, Comcast, Charter, Cox, Vimeo, and various other cable operators.)