Dir. Olivier Assayas, 2002, France, 129 mins, subtitles
Cast:
Connie Nielsen, Charles Berring, Chloë Sevigny, Gina Gershon, Dominque Reymond
Olivier Assayas' Demonlover becomes more exasperating the more you think about it. On first viewing the confusion of plot and character, and the seemingly perverse lack of clarity and sense, leave a subtle taste of irritation and disappointment. It is only afterwards that doubts begin to arise as to whether the confusion and irritation were intentional, and therefore should be considered part of the film's success. Assayas states that he intended to write a film that broke all the rules of mainstream film narrative, to free himself from the worries of being "stopped by moments of explanation or logic". So the unexplainable, illogical plot may not necessarily mean that the film fails, but it certainly doesn't mean that it works either.
Three multinational companies are vying for the distribution rights to a new and revolutionary 3-D animation technique developed by TokyoAnime. Diane de Monx (Nielsen) is put in charge of negotiations for the Volf Corporation after her boss, Karen (Reymond), is drugged, abducted, and has files stolen from her briefcase. Diane is actually a spy for rival company Mangatronics. In talks with Demonlover, the third company chasing the TokyoAnime rights, she accuses them of manufacturing 'Hellfireclub.com', an interactive porn and torture site. They agree to become partners only on the condition that Volf sever all business ties with Mangatronics. Diane is caught by Demonlover representative Elaine (Gershon) while attempting to steal files from her computer. Diane is forced to kill her. The next morning, however, Elaine's body has disappeared and there are no signs of any struggle or disturbance. Has somebody found out who Diane really is? Is she the only double-agent working for the company?
Assayas has previously explored the idea of a fantasy image becoming reality in Irma Vep (1996). With Demonlover he takes this idea even further by suggesting that fantasy and reality are not just capable of being blurred together but that, actually, they may be one and the same. The first half of the film promises a well-structured and intelligent thriller about the economic power of visual images. Corporations lie, double-cross, steal, even torture and kill for the rights to the latest image technology because "it's what the consumers want". The film is saturated with shots of televisions, computer screens, pay-to-view hotel porn channels, video security phones, Japanese animation, and websites. Even the look of the film has an unusual glow to it, as if lit by a giant television set continually left on in some part of the room. Denis Lenoir's beautiful cinematography creates a world of clean, sterile, other-worldly reflections and surfaces, giving the impression of a film so modern it may actually be set five minutes in the future, while Sonic Youth's vibrating electronic rumble of a score produces an atmosphere of continual disturbance lying just beneath the film's shiny veneer.
The second half of the film, however, disintegrates into a mess of incoherent twists, dangling storylines, and a plot that attempts to go everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It is difficult to leave the film without a feeling that opportunities have been wasted. Rather than continue with an ambitious thriller about crimes and espionage within global cyber-businesses where images have replaced state secrets, the film opts instead for an episodic, confused, and underwhelming series of slightly related events. Recalling David Cronenberg's Videodrome (1982) and David Lynch's Lost Highway (1996), Demonlover fails to capture the mystery or the power of either of these films. With fine performances from all involved (especially Sevigny as the secretary who cannot hide her barbed contempt for Diane), it is Nielsen's performance as the icy-cool Diane, with repressed emotions and vulnerability showing slightly underneath her forced lonely professionalism, that holds us through the entire film and makes the final shots so disturbing and moving.
Angus Macdonald
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