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June 30, 2009

Nenette et Boni (1996)

Nenette et Boni marks Denis' first use of a score by the pop group Tindersticks, whose lush, tremulous music (much of it drawn from their second self-titled album) henceforth becomes a trademark of her work, and which here ebbs in and out of a narrative that, like the prismatic imagery that accompanies its hero's initial masturbatory reveries, reflects back and forth itself with endless symmetrical variations, all of which are incessantly, unerringly sensual. In fact, the first thing that struck me about the film was how gorgeously Denis captures Boni's frequent bouts of self pleasure. Masturbation is usually portrayed as solipsistic at best and violently nihilistic at worst, with the prevailing common ground finding it a practical punchline to a fairly common joke. Here, though, in spite of the rather misogynistic nature of Boni's fantasies, Denis regards these private moments from a sweet, tender, almost romantic perspective. She traces her way up and down his body, luxuriating with him as he exalts himself, traipsing now and then right into those fantasies themselves, and then back out again into the working class neighborhood sof Marseilles.

It's from this same perspective that she first views the object of Boni's desire - the beautiful, curvaceous baker's wife. And her wares as well, which are too lovingly photographed to simply be double entendres but which are certainly sexualized to maximum effect. Long shots of bread, pastries with glistening, suggestive clefts, row after row of cream-topped cakes, into which a finger gently pushes. It's dazzling, decadent, gloriously perverse, and it is here - with this eroticization of work, of a trade - that the crux of the film is first hinted at.

Essentially, the film traces the dynamic between those most pendulous of masculine concerns: the shift from exuberant, youthful lust to adult responsibility, a journey which can be mapped by the seed expended in pursuit of both ends. Boni objectifies the baker's wife (in spite of her clearly happy marriage) until his teenage sister Nenette shows up in his bed, seven months pregnant, and frustrates his carefree ways. Why is his bed the place she appears - indeed, right as he's bringing himself to another climax? Rest assured, Denis isn't dipping her feet into incestuous subject matter; she's simply letting the sexuality by which the first quarter of the film was defined progress naturally; this sibling relationship can't help but be compounded by it. That said, the film doesn't stop being sensual once the sexuality ceases to be free of consequence. Consider these two images, which are presented about ten minutes apart in the film but are clearly reflective of one another:

The latter frame, it turns out, is from yet another masturbation scene, one representative of the thematic lines that have begun to run together; Boni kisses the mound of dough with paternal tenderness (reflecting a preceding scene between the baker, his wife and their baby, and prefiguring the final moment with Nenette's newborn) before letting loose on it with desperate, orgiastic fervor.

And the way those lines continue to blur - I don't know what adjectives to use other than marvelous, joyful, ecstatic, in describing just what it's like to watch Denis turn our expectations on their head. She delves deep into Freudian territory while openly engaging, confronting and confounding the typical Madonna-Whore complex a lesser filmmaker would have been content to merely exploit. This is the classic story of a boy becoming a man, but you scarcely know it until the final scene, which find Boni bursting into a hospital, armed with a BB gun, his heart set on growing up come hell or high water.

* * *

And there, in the middle of it all - Vincent Gallo's baby blues.

Posted by David Lowery at June 30, 2009 3:48 AM