{"id":2369,"date":"2012-07-02T10:50:25","date_gmt":"2012-07-02T09:50:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/?p=2369"},"modified":"2013-09-21T09:07:10","modified_gmt":"2013-09-21T08:07:10","slug":"carre-blanc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2012\/07\/02\/carre-blanc\/","title":{"rendered":"Carr\u00e9 blanc"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Carre blanc<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

\nFormat:<\/B> Cinema

\nScreening date:<\/B> 6 July 2012

\nVenues:<\/B> Rio, London

\nDirector:<\/B> Jean-Baptiste L\u00e9onetti

\nWriter:<\/B> Jean-Baptiste L\u00e9onetti

\nCast:<\/B> Sami Bouajila, Julie Gayet, Jean-Pierre Andr\u00e9ani

\nFrance 2011

\n77 mins
\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Those who cling to wealth and power by forcing conformity, stifling creativity and crushing the very essence of humanity are the faceless dominant evil that exploits the most vulnerable aspect of what it means to be human. It is ultimately our spirit which is, in fact, not as indomitable as we’d all like to believe. Through indoctrination and constant scrutiny we are reduced to lumps of clay. We are moulded in the image our true rulers want to see. They want us tied to the consumption they control. Call them what you like, but they are indeed The New World Order.<\/p>\n

And they are winning.<\/p>\n

And, worst of all, the loser is love.<\/p>\n

And without love, we all become prey.<\/p>\n

Harkening back to great 70s science fiction film classics like The Terminal Man<\/i>, Colossus: The Forbin Project<\/i>, A Boy and His Dog<\/i>, Silent Running<\/i><\/A> and THX 1138<\/i> - when the genre was thankfully bereft of light sabres, Wookies and Jabba the Hut, when it was actually ABOUT something - Jean-Baptiste Léonetti’s debut feature film Carré blanc<\/i> is easily the finest dystopian vision of the future to be etched upon celluloid since that time.<\/p>\n

The future it creates is not all that removed from our current existence.<\/p>\n

Carr\u00e9 blanc<\/I> screens on 6 July at the Rio Cinema, London, as part of the East End Film Festival (3 July – 8 July 2012). For more information please visit the East End Film Festival website<\/A>.<\/div>\n

Léonetti announces himself as a talent to be reckoned with. This low-budget science fiction film astounds us with its visual opulence. That, of course, is because it’s obvious that Léonetti has filmmaking hardwired into his DNA. NEVER does the film feel cheap or low-budget. Never do we feel like it has structured itself around all the usual budget-saving techniques that so many other first-time filmmakers unimaginatively opt for. Léonetti has wisely, painstakingly chosen a number of actual exterior and interior locations that fit his vision perfectly and work in tandem with the narrative. His compositions are rich and because his location selection has been so brilliantly judicious, he clearly had the time to properly light and dress the images.<\/p>\n

The next time I hear some young filmmaker whining about the ‘challenges’ of their one-set low-budget production I will consider placing them on my list of those who shall feel the wrath of my Baikal semi-automatic Russian assault rifle when civilisation collapses and it becomes one giant free-for-all.<\/p>\n

Though Carré blanc<\/i> shares a specific approach with past work to a genre that can, perhaps more than any other, effect true analysis and possibly even change, there is nothing at all retro about the picture - no obvious post-modernist nods here. It is completely unto itself.<\/p>\n

Carré blanc<\/i> is fresh, hip, vibrant and vital.<\/p>\n

Blessed also with a deliciously mordant wit, Léonetti delivers a dazzling entertainment for the mind and the senses.<\/p>\n

The tale rendered is, on its surface and like many great movies, a simple one. Philippe (Sami Bouajila) and Marie (Julie Gayet) grew up together in a state orphanage and are now married. They live in a stark, often silent corporate world bereft of any vibrant colour and emotion. Muzak constantly lulls the masses and is only punctuated by announcements occasionally calling for limited procreation and, most curiously, promoting the game of croquet - the one and only state-sanctioned sport.<\/p>\n

Philippe is a most valued lackey of the state - he is an interrogator-cum-indoctrinator - and he’s very good at his job. In fact, with each passing day, he is getting better and better at it. Marie, on the other hand, is withdrawing deeper and deeper into a cocoon as the love she once felt for Philippe is transforming into indifference. In this world, hatred is a luxury. It’s a tangible feeling that the rulers would never tolerate and would punish with death.<\/p>\n

Indifference, it would seem, is the goal. It ensures complete subservience to the dominant forces. Love, however, is what can ultimately prove to be the force the New World Order is helpless to fight and the core of this story is just that - love. If Philippe and Marie can somehow rediscover that bond, there might yet be hope - for them, and the world. It is this aspect of the story that always keeps the movie floating above a mere exercise in style.<\/p>\n

So many dystopian visions suffer from being overly dour. Happily, Léonetti always manages to break the oppressive force of the film and its world by serving up humour. Most of the laughs in Carré blanc<\/i> occur within the context of tests delivered by the interrogating indoctrinators. In the world of the film, suicide is often the only way out for those who have a spirit that cannot be crushed. One early scene features Philippe as a young teen and another boy his age who have both attempted unsuccessfully to kill themselves (by hanging and wrist-slashing respectively).<\/p>\n

Both boys are led into an empty room where smiling corporate lackeys speak to them in tones of compassion. They are both asked to engage in a test to cheer them up. Lying before them is a body bag. The test is thus: which one of them will be first to go inside the bag? <\/p>\n

Let us just say that we laugh in horror at what follows. (I wasn’t the only one laughing in the packed house at the film’s premiere screening. A few sick puppies belched out appreciative guffaws.)<\/p>\n

Narratively, this sequence reveals that Philippe is clearly an interrogator in the making. The test itself is a perfect way to not immediately ‘waste’ potential ‘talent’ by snuffing them out before seeing what they’re really made of. As the film continues to unspool, some of the biggest laughs and equally chilling moments come from the tests Philippe concocts and metes out to discover those who must be weeded out of society - permanently. Other laughs derive from the odd announcements and pronouncements over the endless loudspeakers.<\/p>\n

To Monsieur Léonetti, I offer a tip of the hat for coming up with so many dollops of darkly humorous nastiness throughout the proceedings. They not only offer entertainment value, but are inextricably linked to the world he creates, a world so similar to the one we live in and one which feels just around the corner if humanity does not prevail over the force of a very few.<\/p>\n

Love becomes the ultimate goal of Léonetti’s narrative and as such, he delivers an instant classic of science fiction. At the end of the day, the best work in this genre IS about individuality and the fight to maintain the indomitability of spirit.<\/p>\n

It might, after all, be the only thing we have left.<\/p>\n

This review was first published on Daily Film Dose<\/A>.<\/div>\n

Greg Klymkiw<\/B><\/I><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jean-Baptiste L&#233onetti’s debut feature film Carr&#233 blanc<\/i> is easily the finest dystopian vision of the future to be etched upon celluloid since the 1970s.
\nReview by Greg Klymkiw<\/B><\/I><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11,1,6],"tags":[445,446,145,73],"class_list":["post-2369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-check-it-out","category-cinema-releases","category-festivals","tag-dystopian-film","tag-east-end-film-festival","tag-french-cinema","tag-science-fiction"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","wps_subtitle":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/purUP-Cd","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5020,"url":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2014\/09\/27\/beyond-the-reach\/","url_meta":{"origin":2369,"position":0},"title":"Beyond the Reach","author":"Pam Jahn","date":"September 27, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Macho existentialism, ultra-violence, nasty black humour and up-to-the-minute social commentary. 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