Review:
"High Life"
Release Date: April 12, 2019
Rating: R Running Time: 113 minutes In space no one can hear a baby scream. Writer/director Claire Denis’ unnerving sci-fi chamber piece High Lifeplaces us onboard a sterile, threadbare spacecraft that is hurtling toward a black hole as a part of an experiment to identify new energy sources. Why there is a newborn girl onboard the spacecraft is a mystery that Denis slowly reveals through a series of alarming flashbacks. We do know that Willow is cared for by crew member Monte (Robert Pattinson). Is Monte the father? Monte is part of a crew comprised of death-row inmates who believe they will receive their freedom upon the successful completion of their mission. Unfortunately, the crew is at the mercy of Dr. Dibs (Juliette Binoche), whose own disturbing past inform the experiments she conducts on her captive subjects. Experiments that somehow are connected to Willow. High Liferepresents French writer/director Claire Denis’ first English-language offering, and it is one that seems influenced—directly or indirectly—by such meditative sci-fi classics as Silent Runningand 2001: A Space Odyssey. Of course, Denis—the director of Trouble Every Day, White Material, and Let the Sunshine In—puts her own indomitable stamp on a space opera that doesn’t always work in its bid to examine the human condition under extreme duress. Denis’ intent is to both perturb and inspire with a story that constantly shifts back and forth in time. Through flashbacks, we learn what happened to the crew and how it left Monte alone in space with Willow. The difference between the events that occur in the past and the present are so stark that High Lifeoften feels like two films, one that finds nothing good in humanity, the other offering a glimpse of a hopeful future. Denis adopts a dark and ominous tone as she dissects the uneasy dynamic that exists within a group of criminals who are forced to live with each other in such tight quarters. Tensions are already high, and Dr. Dibs only makes it worse with the demands she makes of her human guinea pigs. Dr. Dibs’ experiments are both physically and psychologically intrusive, and so the causalities seem inevitable. Monte is the only crew member who refuses to do Dr. Dibs’ bidding, which annoys her to no end and forces her to take extreme measures to involve him in her experiments. Binoche so relishes this rare opportunity to play the big bad that she places no limits on herself as the scientist so consumed in her work that, for her, the end justifies her nefarious means. Denis welcomes Binoche’s willingness to indulge both her best and worst instincts, resulting in a villainous turn that alternates between bold and entertaining and indescribably awful—often within the same scene. During this time frame, Denis also knows no subtly when it comes to employing sex in various ways to advance the narrative, most notably as a means to vent frustration or as a source of pain and control. The spacecraft includes a room known as the F—k Box, where crew members can pleasure themselves in private. While High Lifedeserves credit for its depiction of a woman exploring and satisfying her sexual needs, Binoche’s time in the F—k Box is depicted with such hysterical abandon that it seems like it is straight out of a Joe Eszterhas sleazefest. Conversely, High Lifeincludes several sexual assaults. One, in particular, stands out because Denis creates a mood through soft lighting and moody music that is intentionally antithetical to what is show onscreen. It is almost as if Denis is saying that the preparator’s actions are wholly justified because they are taken in the name of science. Regardless, the end result represents a turning point in High Lifethat plays into Monte’s efforts to raise Willow. The point of High Lifeis that good often comes from bad. And it is through Monte’s interactions with Willow—played as a baby by Scarlett Lindsey and as a teenager by Jessie Ross—that this convict not only finds redemption for his past criminal action but reveals a paternal instinct that unexpectedly makes him the perfect parent. Or at least a parent capable of raising a child under unique circumstances—especially when High Lifeenters cosmic territory previously explored by 2001: A Space Odyssey.Pattinson brings an aloofness to Monte that serves him well during Dr. Dibs’ command, and while he remains quiet and introspective as a surrogate father, Pattinson generates a sufficient amount of warmth and comfortable to engage with Willow and to help with her emotional growth. Still, Pattinson never sheds the aura of practicality that makes Monte a true survivor, even if times his pragmatism annoys Willow to no end. Monte needs to know his way around a toolbox because the spacecraft looks like it could fall apart at any minute. Denis places her crew in a spacecraft that is right out of a 1970s sci-fi epic in both its antiseptic, near-dilapidated appearance, snug confines, and retro-futuristic technology. It is a bright and impersonal environment designed with functionality in mind, not comfort or socialization, and it intentionally stands in stark contrast to the haunting atmosphere Denis creates within its passageways. Other than the aforementioned F—k Box, the only place of refuge in the spacecraft is a mini version of one of the gardens from Silent Running. The garden is the only area in the spacecraft where the crew can escape the crushing sense of isolation that marks their journey and, literally and figuratively, sow what they reap. Despite its lack of personality, the spacecraft is as much an integral part of High Lifeas any of its crew members, one that works with and against those who live within. To Monte, it is as much a prison as the one he hoped he had left behind on Earth. For Willow, it is all she knows. For Denis, it is a just science lab created to bring out the best in the worst of us, no matter the human cost. Robert Sims Aired: April 11, 2019 Web site: https://a24films.com/films/high-life https://tickets.highlife.movie |
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