meninas

The movie starts with a Chester Himes quote--a big clue to its atmosphere. Both gritty and haunting, the story concerns illegal cockfighting in France (minimal carnage), with a lot of overlaid metaphor. "Cock, man, same thing." This is a typically slow, thoughtful Claire Denis film (does any woman take on more masculine subjects?). Everything is played under the surface; in fact, the images and montage are so strong, it might as well be silent. Key motivations are implicit, not explicit. Alex Descas, as the Caribbean cock-trainer, is the soul of the movie, as a man fatally in love with another man's wife.

Hilary Swank is brilliant--almost brilliant enough to carry this naieve interpretation of a modern tragedy. Even if you don't know the story, it is predictable, and-- worse-- maudlin as presented here. All the characters except Chloe Sevigny's are cliches, and only Swank rises above the screenplay's weaknesses.

An original idea, done with humor and style, and punctuated with a very intense performance by the superb Forest Whitaker. I saw it in a packed movie house in Paris, with English subtitles (except for de Bankole's dialogue), and the French audience liked it even more than I did. The mixture of Mafia, gangsta, and samurai (with more than passing mention of Indian warriors) reveals similarities you'd never think of.

This one's worth seeing.