Barnes & Noble

Director Leos Carax's masterpiece Pola X -- one of the best and least-seen films of 2000, with a dynamic soundtrack and expansive, intense images -- benefits immeasurably from the DVD format. From its shattering, deafening opening images of graveyards being bombed and general warfare, one feels that that the movie was mixed for a twisted IMAX presentation. Based on Herman Melville's novel Pierre, or the Ambiguities (Pola X is an acronym of the book's French title, with X standing for the script's tenth draft), the story introduces well-heeled Pierre (Guillaume Depardieu), who lives with his mother, Marie (Catherine Deneuve), in a manor and is the psuedonymous author of the "young generation's cult novel." Although he is engaged to Lucie (Delphine Chaillot), Pierre gives up everything to be with a strange, raggedy, dark-haired woman (Katerina Golubeva) from a war-torn Eastern European country who arrives one day, claiming to be his long-lost half sister, Isabelle. Pierre and Isabelle, puzzled and glued to each other, flee to the city, moving into a devastated warehouse, which they share with a terrorist commando group and a band that plays very scary instrumental noise music (composed by Scott Walker). By the end of Pola X, Pierre's accumulated missteps form something of a disaster movie. Like Titanic, Pola X also has a memorable CGI shot of lovers embracing; but in this instance, the man and woman are naked, drowning in a raging stream of blood. This is the most lucid film yet from enfant terrible Carax, and Eric Gautier's stunning cinematography recalls the best tragic work of silent cinema. Chas Turner

All Movie Guide

Eight years after Les Amants du Pont Neuf (1991), which failed at the box office, Léos Carax returned with Pola X, a French/German/Swiss co-production with Catherine Deneuve and the young Guillaume Dépardieu in a story of love, incest, and descent into hell. Pierre (Dépardieu) lives with his mother in Normandy, not far from the banks of the Seine River where Victor Hugo's daughter drowned with her lover. The good-looking mother and son are happy, healthy, and wealthy, and they love each other deeply. Pierre is romantically attached to the beautiful and delicate Lucie (Delphine Chuillot) and visits her every morning with the motorcycle he has inherited from his father. One summer night, his mother tells him that she has chosen a date for his wedding. Overexcited, Pierre rushes through the night to break the news to Lucie. As he is speeding down the road, a strange creature with a familiar face suddenly leaps from the dark. She tells him in broken French that she is his sister. Pierre is shocked, but he decides to believe her and make up for the mistake of his father.

The film took its inspiration from Herman Melville's Pierre, or, the Ambiguities, which Carax read when he was 18, the same age as the hero of the story. The first part of the film sets an idyllic tone with a fairy tale atmosphere of life among the rich and beautiful. This is in sharp contrast to the world Pierre plunges into when he meets Isabelle (Katerina Golubeva), who claims to be his half-sister. Carax, who has been against nudity in his films, shows the two literally engaging in mutual oral sex onscreen, although this was not included in the original script. (One may insert here that Golubeva, who is known from Sarunas Bartas and Claire Denis films, was the girlfriend of Depardieu in real life.) The fusion of the two leads to the creation of Pierre's book. This is a highly stylized film that is at times reminiscent of German expressionism. It is constructed in opposites: black and white, high and low, good and bad. Elements of fantasy are mixed with reality. Carax tries to introduce a new film language, often at the expense of the emotional quality of the film. Despite its weak points, it is still a work that exhibits the exceptional talent of its director. Golubeva exudes a certain magic in depicting the half-real, half-imaginary character of a vulnerable and somewhat lost Madonna. The title is an acronym of the French title of Melville's book, Pierre, ou, les Ambiguites. The film screened in competition at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. Gönül Dönmez-Colin

Product Details

• UPC: 720917526928
• Source: FOX LORBER
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Vistavision (1.66:1)
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
• Language: Français
• Subtitles: English
• Time: 2:14:00
• Sales Rank: 32,002

Features:

DVD MENU