Staying Vertical review: Alain Guiraudie‘s interesting, involving follow up to his last Cannes visit with Stranger By The Lake.
Our Staying Vertical review at Cannes 2016.
Staying Vertical review
Alain Guiraudie follows up his 2013 Un Certain Regard entry Stranger By The Lake, writing and directing Staying Vertical, which has been selected as an official competition film at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
The film revolves around the story of a screenwriter, Leo (Damien Bonnard), who is seeking inspiration for his next film. On his travels of discovery he encounters single mother Marie, in the hills of rural France. The young woman seduces him and nine months later the two give birth to a child. However, things don’t go to plan, and following the birth, Marie falls into a sever state of post-natal depression and leaves with her children from a previous relationship, though literally leaves Leo holding his baby. Leo, who has no fixed abode, now has a small infant to care for. After new encounters with an elderly gentleman and his lodger in a nearby village, as well as Marie’s own father, events take an unexpected turn.
Guiraudie has delivered an interesting, involving feature which, while extremely graphic in places in terms of its sexual content as well as its depiction of important social subjects, also manages to expose extremely dark humour throughout. Its slow-burning structure aids the narrative and Guiraudrie extracts some truly terrific performances from his small, but perfectly selected cast. Bonnard is particularly strong as the lead as Leo, a character struggling with his own personal identity as well as his professional pursuits. He engulfs the screen with a very subtle, but hugely impactful turn.
Guiraudi’s script is very intrusive of its subject matter, his direction is well-aimed, and his camera is unafraid to shy away from the questions it raises. His choices will come across as a little controversial – in one scene we see a baby being born in full close-up (something that is quite an experience of the huge screen inside the Palais des Festivals here in Cannes) – but added together provide a glorious cinema experience that one may not forget in a hurry.
An excellent, eccentric addition to a wonderful Cannes canon.
Staying Vertical review by Paul Heath at the Cannes Film Festival, 2016
Catch all of our Cannes ’16 coverage here
