Mauvais Sang

MAUVAS SANG. 1986.

(ENGLISH: THE NIGHT IS YOUNG/BAD BLOOD)
I'm sure no one is surprised that I picked a bizarre, visually-striking French film for my first post. Directed in 1986 by Leos Carax, Mauvais Sang could be said to have many resemblances to the early storytelling of Jean-Luc Godard. Likewise, it has many of the same sort of quirks. Throughout the film there are drastic changes in the color and pace of the film, from still shots of only red, white, and black, to a graceful green and blue skydiving scene. There is plenty of comic relief, ecstatically different from the dreary color filtered scenes of only red and black.

Being a French film, the actresses are intolerably beautiful. Mauvais Sang has two of the best: a young Juilette Binoche and Julie Delpy, who was 17 during the making of the film. The male lead, Denis Lavant, does a good performance but the character is difficult to understand. Which brings us to the plot. Just like Godard, Carax has a habit of ignoring the viewer when it comes to plot details, almost as if saying, "If you want a detailed plot that makes sense, read a book." So he concentrates on things books can't: color, movement, and faces.

Mauvais Sang takes place in Paris in the future. Two men of indeterminate origin owe lots of money to an American gangstress, so they decide to employ the son of one of their old friends to steal an antidote for the STBO virus, which attacks lovers who make love without love. To enjoy the film, none of that knowledge is necessary. To put it succinctly, the movie is beautifully shot, and it is that, the overal atmosphere given by the camera and the actors, that make this film good.