[STAYING VERTICAL
screens Thursday February 23rd at 6:45 pm and Friday February 24th at 9:30 pm
at the Cleveland Cinematheque.]
Review by Bob Ignizio
Well, I certainly haven't seen a movie like STAYING VERTICAL before. Described by
many reviews as some sort of comedy, I didn't laugh much, but was consistently
perplexed.
With its utterly deadpan tone, you don't realize right away
that this film takes place in a reality that is at least slightly skewed.
Instead you find yourself trying to follow what seems a relatively
straightforward plot about a screenwriter named Leo (Damien Bonnard) suffering
from writer's block.
Leo takes a drive into the French countryside to clear his
head and find inspiration. He also finds both men and women there to stimulate
his libido. He wants to make it with a young man named Yano (Basile Meilleurat),
but his advances are rebuffed. Instead he hooks up with a female shepherd named
Marie (India Hair), and eventually has a child with her.
But Marie, who already has 2 kids, isn't interested in
staying on the farm or raising another child. She moves to the city, leaving
Leo to stay with her father. There's also some weird plant based psychotherapy
sessions and some bizarre (to say the least) situations involving the old man
who lives with Yoan. The closest thing it reminds me of is a scene in Takashi Miike's VISITOR Q.
Honestly I'm not sure what to think of this one. It's
extremely well crafted and held my attention, and I have to applaud the matter
of fact audacity of writer/director Alain Guiraudie. Anyone who has seen even one actual porn movie will realize
this isn't porn, but STAYING VERTICAL
definitely pushes some boundaries. Not just with relatively normal hetero and
homo sexual encounters, but with one coupling that is sure to make all but the
most jaded moviegoers' jaws drop. There's also an unflinching birth of a baby scene, and if there's a heaven, Kroger "MOM AND DAD" Babb must be smiling down from it.
Outstanding performances, too, especially from Bonnard. As
weird as things get in this movie (and they do get pretty weird), the actors
are always convincing and grounded.
But is it a good film, or even a likeable one? That's harder
to answer. It's certainly well made, and done with conviction. But there's also
a sense that Guiraudie is pushing buttons just for the sake of getting a rise
out of viewers on occasion. Still, it's a singular and challenging work, and
any serious cineaste will probably want to at least check it out. 2 ½ out of 4
stars.
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