MIFF MOVIE REVIEW: ABUSE OF WEAKNESS




* * * *


One morning Maude (Isabelle Hupert) wakes up in her bed - left side of her body paralysed. Thus begins a road to recovery. Some time later we see our heroine leading seemingly full life. Also never completely recovered from a stroke she is a successful director with many plans for the future. When she casts notorious con man Vilko Piran as a protagonist in her new film, their friendship makes a strange turn which leads  Maud towards self destruction.


Director Catherine Breillat is a legend of European cinema, known for deep exploration of sex and violence in her works. Even though she is almost prudent in this very personal account of her own story, ABUSE OF WEAKNESS is still a very hard film to watch. 



Catherine herself experienced a stroke in 2004 and had been forced into giving large sums of money to a real life con man, whom she later sent to jail. The movie is a harrowing account of the heroine's first physical, then emotional suffering. Maude is portrayed as a strong willed, unbreakable woman who loves to laugh her troubles away, but she still falls prey to a predator. ABUSE OF WEAKNESS is as manipulative, as a movie about a physically and emotionally handicapped person being led into a trap can be. While it is dealing casually with the rotten friendship between Vilko and Maude, little by little, a deep cavern in their relationship emerges, and it sucks out anything good that's left in the lives of both.  



Isabelle Hupert deserves every praise for her portrayal of a stroke patient. It is a physically demanding role and with the film's actual shooting time spanning only a few days makes it an incredible achievement for an actor.

ABUSE OF WEAKNESS is not entertaining, but is powerful. It's biggest flaw may be being too personal. No artist can be fully detached from it's subject. The scene where Maude is being interrogated by her family about giving her money away sums up it all: "It was me," she says. "But it wasn't me."

Just like Catherine Breillat, Maude is an artist. And aren't artists the biggest cons of them all?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

KOREAN MOVIE REVIEW: MEMOIR OF A MURDERER

Image
8/10 Byung-su is an elderly veterinarian who has recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. He has a caring daughter who does all she can to make his life easier, and a policemen friend whose name Byung-su forgets from time to time. He also goes to a poetry club (in order to keep his mind exercised) where a lonely widow makes advances at him. But there’s one thing that sets Byung-su apart from the other senior citizens of his little town – he is a serial killer.  When a new wave of killings begin Byung-su starts to suspect that a young man who is dating his daughter is the culprit. Trying to keep the remains of his memories together Byung-su writes extensive journals. But what if his memories are actually real? Losing his grip on reality he goes head to head with the new serial killer in order to protect the only life he cares about in the world – his daughter’s. Before Dexter came around Koreans had excelled in creating charismatic killers as protagonists of the f...
Read more

We'll End Up Together - Nous Finirons Ensemble (French Movie Review)

Image
10/10 Max has a sixtieth birthday coming up. The problem is he is broke, divorced and depressed. When a group of his best friends show up at his doorstep to help him celebrate, he reluctantly agrees to spend a few days with them, but won’t explain what’s going on in his personal life. When ones darkest moments come, will friendship conquer all? Seven years after the breakout success of the film Little White Lies (Les Petits Mouchoirs) comes the long anticipated sequel and it is worth the wait. The success of WE’LL END UP TOGETHER is not in its rather predictable plot, but the chemistry on screen, the characters that we recognise ourselves and our friends in, and the amazing warm atmosphere that makes one believe there’s no problem a good dinner with friends won’t sort out.  Written and directed by much loved French actor and director  Guillaume Canet this movie feels like a welcome return home to those who have seen the original and will also welcome new viewership - t...
Read more

MSFF: DEATH IN BUENOS AIRES (MUERTE EN BUENOS AIRES)

Image
3 1/2 /5 It's year 1980 and we are in Buenos Aires. The wealthy gay man is murdered  and inspector Chaves is on the case. In order to find the culprit he has to plunge into the world of gay nightclubs, drugs and sex. But what is it with the young and handsome officer Gomes, who was the first on the crime scene, and seems to place himself with ease as a mole into a gay community? Is he trying to catch the killer? Or hiding something? As suspicions arise, Chaves is haunted by the feelings he does not understand. Will the fatal attraction to a younger man help him to solve the case, or be his undoing? First time director Natalie Meta is "spot on" on the upbeat atmosphere of the 80s without too much expense. She cleverly uses the pop tunes, over-the-top clothes and many other ingredients to recreate the time. The murder mystery is secondary, and the movie is focused on the relationship between the two men, full of innuendoes and mistrust. The very simple cinema...
Read more