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Black Heaven AKA L'autre monde AKA Other World (The)
R2 - United Kingdom - Arrow Films Review written by and copyright: Jon Meakin (6th October 2011). |
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The Film
 Gaspard (Gregoire Leprince-Ringuet) and Marion (Pauline Etienne) enjoy a carefree life in the first flourishes of a romance, until they discover a lost mobile phone at the beach. The mysterious messages and photos on it suggest the owner is due to meet someone. Intrigued, they intercept and spy on the couple, following them to a quarry where they eventually find them in what appears to be a suicide pact. The man has already died, but they rescue his beautiful, blonde companion called Audrey (Louise Bourgoin), from a fume filled car. Gaspard finds a video camera on the dashboard and can’t resist taking it. One days adventure ending with a thwarted suicide is enough for Marion, but she doesn’t realise Gaspard took the camera and is now obsessing over the owner. By coincidence, while out with friends Yann (Pierre Niney) and Ludo (Ali Marhyar), Gaspard meets the girl again and she leads him to a virtual online world called Black Hole. It’s clear her personality is split between her real life and her virtual one and Gaspard is entering a dangerous game, especially when it transpires that Audrey’s brother Vincent (Melvil Poupaud) may be manipulating her and those she contacts. By “coincidence”, I mean “contrivance”. It’s an unlikely twist that Gaspard would run into Audrey again and it’s especially awkward here because part of Black Heaven’s appeal is a laid-back and subtle narrative that is more about mood than plot. It’s a small gripe, but a necessary twist at least, as what emerges is a clever story about obsession. Gaspard’s life with Marion is very innocent, even “naïve” as he will later call it, and note how she lives with her father who monitors the young couple very carefully; he casts a shadow of respectability. Meanwhile Audrey’s environment on and off-line is erotic and dangerous. He finds her appeal intoxicating and he risks losing his sense of reality when he starts trying to find her avatar. When he finds her, she is a “slave” or escort operating in the Black Heaven club and they start playing a perverse game that takes him ever further away from the wholesome Marion. What’s impressive about Black Heaven is that it is an erotic thriller without being explicit. Louise Bourgoin, recently seen in The Extraordinary Adventures Of Adele Blanc-sec, is very beautiful and has a couple of tasteful nude scenes, but that’s enough to stress this is a world away from Gaspard’s normal life. There is also a scene where he sleeps with Marion, but again, it isn’t gratuitous at all. The contrast between the two lives is so stark it’s as if Hitchcock was adapting a Famous Five book! Either that or it’s merely an overblown metaphor for browsing dodgy porn sites while your girlfriend is asleep. Certainly the choice of using an online virtual world is a clever one that means the story stays relevant and believable despite its ambition. You could easily reimagine the plot in any era and swap the game for a seedy bondage club in the rough end of town, but no matter how obsessed he was, it would be unlikely Gaspard would have the courage to visit it. Black Hole is easy for him to get into because he can do so from the deceptive safety of an Internet connection. It also allows the story to touch on the notions of identity, particularly relevant in this age of social networking. The virtual world of Black Hole is well realised with realistic, simple almost monotone graphics, yet also a tangible sense of depth. Just look at the opening credit sequence. Black Hole has a unique atmosphere, especially when Gaspard first spies Audrey in the club and she is singing. Her voice is haunting. Also, her hands are bound and she is blindfolded... Director Gilles Marchand clearly knows more about sexual politics than he is letting on! That just makes the restraint and focus of the story all the more commendable. Ultimately, it may be too laid back. While Black Heaven can allude to a Hitchcockian approach to duality, romance and obsession, it could also have benefited from the Master’s focus, suspense and occasional shock for the viewer. Just as the early necessary contrivance jarred, the last act suffers slightly from needing to resolve the threads of the plot. Still, the overall commitment to that sense of pace and mood makes for a low-key film that creeps under your skin, not easily forgotten. It deserves to find a wider audience.
Video
The film is presented in a 2.35:1 ratio and the image quality is excellent. The film uses natural light throughout, but it holds up even during the darkness of the quarry scenes. The exception of course are the virtual sequences. Black Hole itself is realised in almost monotone, dark colours and shadows. Simple, but effective.
Audio
Black Heaven is all about mood and the soundtrack plays a huge part in that, with a well-placed theme, especially the one for the game world, which crops up from time to time as a cue, such as being used as the mobile phone ring tone. Unfortunately the only audio track is 2.0 stereo and the film would have benefitted hugely from a surround soundtrack, particularly when Audrey’s avatar is singing ‘Save The Last Dance For Me’ with such a haunting tone. English subtitles are provided, but they cannot be turned off.
Extras
No extras at all are included. There is a menu with an option for scene selection. This film doesn’t seem to have much of a presence and even a couple of basic interviews would have been welcome to shed some light on its conception.
Overall
Black Heaven is an ambitious and confident thriller that deserves to be much better known. This bare-bones DVD release is unlikely to change that though as it lacks any effort to present it with any insight.
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