Forget the sexual tension in the Star Trek series. Move over, shippers and fan artists of Star Wars characters. Claire Denis' new sci-fi film has been crowned the absolute horniest piece of space drama of all time. High Life is one that I have been looking forward to for quite some time, but now that it's available on streaming, I must say that I was quite disappointed in. This film really provides everything that a fan of this genre could possibly ask for: a tired Robert Pattinson, mesmerizing sound design, and a stunningly ambiguous ending. What this film lacks, however, is a script written clear enough to really make its audience feel for any of these characters. While the production of this film, from its cinematography to its editing, are all incredibly masterful, there is a distinct lack of purpose in this story that holds the key to tying this could-have-been masterpiece together. Despite High Life toying about with some interesting themes, this film ultimately proves too high-concept to even make sense of itself.
High above the clouds of Earth and far into the depths of boundless space lie Monte (Robert Pattinson) and his daughter Willow (Scarlett Lindsey). With the dead bodies of his former crew lying around, this story begins to unravel in a series of flashbacks to explain what could have happened on this horrific journey and why they were there in the first place. Exploring various themes of what it means to be human and the precious value of human life, this film is a truly sexual, space-set drama like no other. I am not experienced with the foreign films of Claire Denis, but from what I can tell with High Life, her directorial style seems to be unmatched. She is able to tell this story in such a pristine and entrancing way that I do not think anybody else could have quite accomplished. The way that she brings these characters' stories together to pave the way for such an absolutely buck-wild story was incredible. Her pacing, handling of the script, and ambiguous motivations make this entire movie feel like you are in a trance. Denis' direction also has to give a lot of thanks to the music and sound design by Stuart Staples and Tindersticks. Their simply subtle and airy soundtrack made every scene so captivating to watch regardless of its particular subject matter. Which was a bit of a relief, given this film's main focus is the touchy subject of procreation with an emphasis on unnerving rape scenes. The unabashedly confident use of this kind of content was a bit much to watch at times, but it undoubtedly served its purpose well. Even if the audience is transported in a film somewhere else than Earth, sex and the desire for it will always prevail. And while it might get atrociously ugly with some people, Denis was not afraid to explore these often taboo topics.
I have also not been aware of the recent work from Robert Pattinson since the Twilight series. It is a bit tiring at this point to continue to compare him to Edward Cullen, but I just have not kept up with his work in these kinds of indie films. Which, I now realize, has been my most fatal flaw. Pattinson's performance in this film is astounding and I would have never thought of him as a father figure until seeing the ways he interacted with Willow at such a young age. Pattinson, against the odds of an otherwise completely different film, gave off such a comforting and paternal love that was undeniable. The tenderness of his facial expressions mixed with the careful delivery of Denis' well-crafted dialogue made for such a multi-dimensional character embodied in what easily could have been a basic archetype. I absolutely adored Monte throughout this film solely because of Pattinson's underrated performance.
Where High Life lets me down, however, is with its static script, written by Denis herself and Jean-Pol Fargeau. One little misstep in a script can cause me to start to over-analyze each of the film's problems but the problem with this movie is that it did not have many conflicts to begin with. Other than the inescapable dread of being sucked into a black hole, the audience starts off the film with almost immediately knowing that Monte and Willow are the only ones left alive. Which, to me, makes the conflicts and struggles between the rest of the cast during the flashbacks a bit bare. I did start to care about all of their harsh realities that they were living, but in the back of my head, I knew that it was all pointless. Despite some scenes with a lot of shock value and grotesque special effects, the story remained relatively stale. Perhaps this is due to the shifted focus on the themes of infancy and optimism in the face of danger, but High Life's premise was so high-concept without any ground-level development that the A-plot began to blur. The ambiguity of this interstellar story will elevate this to masterpiece status for many, but it did not work for me in that way.
From its trailers and early reactions, High Life seems like a film that would be right up my alley (and rightfully so). I try not to hype up or exaggerate the grandiose feelings that I get while watching space dramas, but said film has to actually blow me away in order for me to do so. This movie, on the other hand, has only a few elements that make its slow runtime worthy; and by completely leaving out the aspects of the script that make this genre so emotional is what caused this film to be an arguable miss.
My Rating: ★★★½
No comments:
Post a Comment