Capone's Art-House Round-Up with DISORDER and DOWN BY LOVE!!!

Hey, folks. Capone in Chicago here, with a few films that are making their way into art houses or coming out in limited release around America this week (maybe even taking up one whole screen at a multiplex near you). Do your part to support these films, or at least the good ones…


DISORDER
If you haven’t been paying attention to the work of Belgian actor Matthias Schoenaerts, you’ve been missing out of some really interesting work over the last few years, but especially in the last year or so with standout appearances in FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD, THE DANISH GIRL, A BIGGER SPLASH, and his latest, DISORDER (formerly titled MARYLAND), from French writer-director Alice Winocour (who co-wrote last year’s wonderful Mustang, and wrote and directed 2012’s Augustine). Although he’s been working as an actor since the early 1990s and had a supporting role in 2006’s BLACK BOOK, Schoenaerts was first noticed as an acting force in the Oscar-nominated Belgian film BULLHEAD, followed shortly by the deeply moving RUST AND BONE, opposite Marion Cotillard. He specializes in playing the strong, silent type but he can add a bit of color and energy when needed (check him out in A LITTLE CHAOS or THE DROP for proof).

With DISORDER, Schoenaerts attempts his most troubled characterization since BULLHEAD as he plays Vincent Loreau, a former French Special Forces soldier, not long back from Afghanistan and clearly suffering from bouts of post-traumatic stress disorder while still attempting to work in private security, mostly for the rich and powerful in and around Paris. One of the elements of the film that grabbed me immediately is that we really aren’t given any clues as to what happened to Vincent during the war to damage him so completely, or any sense of what type of person he was before going into service.

The character is a blank slate that director Winocour (and co-writer Jean-Stéphane Bron) fills with details based on his behavior in the now—his hallucinations and trembling anxiety, but also the way he seems to deeply care for his latest charges, Jessie (Diane Kruger), the wife of a filthy rich Lebanese “businessman” (Percy Kemp, who turns out to be an arms dealer with many enemies), and her young son Ali (Zaid Errougui-Demonsant) on the family’s estate, known as Maryland.

The bodyguard duty is preceded by a security job, at which countless politicians and other important types are collected at a reception, where Vincent stops a potential threat. At he glides almost unseen through the party, we watch Vincent’s powers of observation and stealthy behavior, all products of his military training, but there’s a more personal quality he brings to the job, which is useful when he’s right about a threat, but makes him come across as a full-time paranoid the rest of the time. And most impressively, Schoenaerts manages to embody all of this with an intense gaze and very little dialogue.

As Vincent cases Maryland as part of his job, the audience also gets to tour the various rooms, corners and dark places throughout the estate. DISORDER wouldn’t be much of a movie if his paranoia didn’t pay off, and sure enough, a swift and brutal kidnapping attempt kicks off by parties unknown, and Vincent movies into action. Winocour’s use of sound in the film’s final third is incredibly impressive, moving from total silence to explosive chaos, with tiny, jump-inducing sounds peppered throughout to keep everyone on their toes. The filmmaker’s ratchets up the tension at such an alarming pace that DISORDER becomes almost a horror movie, as everyone becomes a possible target.

The film also does a credible job of keeping Jessie from being just a woman to protect. Earlier, in the get-to-know-you phase of the film, she and Vincent sit in her palatial kitchen talking about her life, and we discover that she genuinely does love him and seems to have no clue what he does to make his money. These are also the scenes in which Vincent begins to fall for her a bit, making his job (and the film) that much more personal. As a film about a bodyguard falling for the person he’s protecting, DISORDER isn’t particularly original, but the pairing of these two great actors makes all the difference in terms of adding depth and humanity to the work, and makes this something well worth seeking out.


DOWN BY LOVE
Based on true events, DOWN BY LOVE by writer-director Pierre Godeau (2013’s Juliette), is the nerve-wracking and steamy tale of married prison director Jean (Guillaume Gallienne) who begins an ill-advised affair with Anna (Adéle Exarchopoulos, BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR), one of the female prisoners at the facility. Down by Love is less a story about a series of sexual encounters in various isolated locations around the prison (although there are certainly plenty of those) and more about how Jean’s desire for Anna compels him to throw all caution to the wind. He effectively abandons his family, despite his initially seeming like a caring father and loving husband (to his far-too-forgiving wife, played by Stéphanie Cléau), as well as a fair and compassionate custodian of the prisoners he oversees.

Portrayed as a troubled young woman—although certainly not a scheming seductress—Anna seems like a resourceful, capable, tough character who is marked with periods of severe depression that are made all the worse by periodic visits by her judgmental mother (and Eric Rohmer favorite Marie Riviere). The relationship with Jean is one of the few things in her life that brings her any pleasure, but she is still plagued with feelings of guilt for possibly destroying his family life. But the level of self-destruction Jean enters into is the most fascinating aspect of DOWN BY LOVE. His elaborately spun lies and passionate denials when rumors begin to spread about the pair are a peek into how his mind works and proof positive that, in many ways, he is held captive by his desires.

Gallienne and Exarchopoulos are as believable as lovers as they are as an incendiary couple whose flame burns bright but eventually will burn out, leaving nothing but raw, exposed emotions with no outlet. It seems inevitable that eventually these two will turn on each other, but that’s not exactly what happens, even if it should. Some of the most difficult scenes to watch are those between Jean and wife Elise, who is willing to take him back if he just admits he’s being foolish, because men love admitting that.

Filmmaker Godeau (who adapted a book by Florent Gonçalves and Catherine Siguret) does his best to reserve judgment on his leading characters, leaving it up to his audience to decide if these two are the world’s greatest lovers or its most selfish and destructive…or both; a great case could be made for all three options. DOWN BY LOVE is infuriating, erotic and a perfect showcase for both top-notch performances and skilled, measuring filmmaking.

-- Steve Prokopy
"Capone"
capone@aintitcool.com
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