Hors Satan
Hors Satan is a 2011 French drama film written and directed by Bruno Dumont. It was filmed under the production title L'Empire, which means "The Empire". It premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.
Initial release: October 19, 2011 (France)
Director: Bruno Dumont
Running time: 110 minutes Cine21
Screenplay: Bruno Dumont
Cast: David Dewaele, Alexandra Lematre, Aurore Broutin, more
Producers: Muriel Merlin, Rachid Bouchareb, Jean Bréhat
Hors Satan (Outside Satan) is a 2011 French drama film written and directed by Bruno Dumont.[1] It was filmed under the production title L'Empire, which means "The Empire".It premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.
Directed by Bruno Dumont
Produced by Jean Brehat
Rachid Bouchareb
Muriel Merlin
Written by Bruno Dumont
Starring David Dewaele
Alexandra Lematre
Cinematography Yves Cape
Editing by Buno Dumont
Basile Belkhiri
Studio 3B Productions
Distributed by Pyramide Distribution
Release dates
16 May 2011 (Cannes)
19 October 2011 (France)
Running time 110 minutes
Country France
Language French
In a village on the French Opal Coast, a drifter engages in a perplexing relationship with a young woman who has suffered abuse.In a village on the French Opal Coast, a drifter engages in a perplexing relationship with a young woman who has suffered abuse.
I am not going to write a summary about this film or explain what it is about.
This is a film where you have to let go the concept of 'story'. Don't search for a narrative structure. This film is all about 'feeling' and 'experiencing'. In my opinion something that is harder and harder to find in modern cinema, that is mainly there to 'entertain' audiences.
This is a film that redefines the concept of 'interpretation'
I would like to give a short explanation why...
The moment I started the movie and watched the first images I was immediately absorbed by the sheer beauty of the landscape and how this landscape is framed (done by the fine French cinematographer Ives Cape). I learned in these first few minutes that the framing is key in this picture. In 'Hors Satan' it is not merely the framing (observing) of a composited shot. It is much more...
What happens in 'Hors Satan' is the constant shift between the objective view and the subjective view of an image. We (as an audience) see two figures, traveling trough a desolate landscape. Through forests, plains of sand, a small quiet village (the center point in this landscape). They don't talk much. They just walk along. Their facial expressions tells enough.
This is the objective side of 'Hors Satan'. The camera and the spectators 'observe' But in 'Horse Satan' one will also find a high amount of subjectivity. In this film the two protagonists are constantly 'watching', and we see them doing just that! We see what they see. A meadow, branches of a tree poking into the air. This brings us closer to the projected image. It seems as if Bruno Dumont literally places the camera on the exact spot of the eyes of the watching actors. By doing just that, we observe the characters watching and then we too are able to observe what they see. In fact that doesn't seem to be a lot for the observing audience, but at the same time there is a lot of information within these frames. Part of the message of the film, of the subtext, is hidden. This 'watching' of the landscape trough the eyes of the protagonists makes the film much more of a subjective experience.
It seems that this alternative form of film making, of a different film language is very rare these days. There are few authors who do it. And if you liked 'Hors Satan', you should definitely have a look at the rest of Dumont's oeuvre (the films: La vie de Jesus, L'Humanité, Twentynine Palms, Flanders, Hadewijch) and also check out film makers like Bela Tarr, Leos Carax, Terrence Malick, Aleksandr Sokurov and Matthew Barney.
You, as a spectator (I include myself as well) has to create a different way of 'reading' films like this. Let the story structure go, except questions that will not be answered, and again, don't search for a narrative safety line. Just let it roll over you.
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