Review "A Knife in the Heart" by Yann Gonzalez: fantastic and anatomical masterpiece

Yann Gonzalez's latest film is an ode to human anatomy, both visible and invisible; like a surgeon, the director of Encounters After Midnight cuts and deciphers bodies and emotions, in an exquisite visual journey. A Knife in the Heart comes out this Wednesday in theaters, and it is one of the best French films of the moment.

Arse

Paris 1979: the film takes place in the middle of Parisian gay erotic film, between film cameras and sulphurous nightclubs. Anne (Vanessa Paradis), producer of these films and who is defined only by her love for Loïs (Kate Moran), sees her team of actors being murdered one after the other. Thus is triggered a superbly conducted thriller, gently subversive but always sharpened, like this knife that comes to plant itself in the bowels to extract the essence of a feeling. Ass stories thus overlap with heart stories in a rather blurred space-time and, if it tends to make us lose our bearings, knows how to invent and reinvent its own chronological logic. A knife in the heart is like one of those erotic films: everything is not logical, but everything stands and is maintained, in an orgastic harmony.

Mouth

Yann Gonzalez's approach to his film is surgical: with the precision of a scalpel, he dissects the feelings, and leaves the emotions of his characters raw. Despite a very written script, the dialogues seem urgent, the lyrics are uncontrolled and everything interlocks to give birth to scenes as strong as beautiful ; we can think in particular of Vanessa Paradis' heartbreaking piece of bravery whose character, consumed by his love for Loïs (and also a little by alcohol), is overwhelmed by words and violence in a sublime destructive whirlwind. The mouth is a recurring motif in A Knife in the Heart : images of voyeurism or false perfection, comic and joyful metonymy when it comes to Bouche d'Or, Yann Gonzalez and his cinematographer Simon Beaufils transform this element both glamorous and trivial, to make it a tender and fascinating vice. 

Eyes

It is impossible not to talk about the aesthetics of the film without talking about the work of the image, incredible journey into the universe of Yann Gonzalez. The director confirms his cinematic touch, skilfully juggling between the neon lights of filming and nightclubs, and the more natural lights more or less dark of large exteriors. This strong contrast establishes from the first moments a duality, that of the tearing of the main character, which is locked in an infernal cycle. The duality is also that established by the fantastic, first of all through Anne's dreams, filmed in a magnificent black and white that is both deliberately blurred and contrasted; Then it interferes in reality and creates a charming confusion, which will delight the followers of the genre. The images shine and the lights become almost musical, an opportunity to highlight the very good soundtrack produced by the group M83, whose main member Anthony Gonzalez is the brother of the director of A Knife in the Heart. 

Throat

A Knife in the Heart manages to set from the first scene a breathless rhythm, and establishes throughout the story a suspense very well conducted; This film is an undeniable urgent and impatient thriller, which inevitably unfolds its hour and forty.But what remains in the throat is sometimes a very average and reciting acting: while on the one hand the main actors excel narrowly (Vanessa Paradis and Kate Moran in the roles of Anne and Loïs) or an eccentricity both light and serious (Nicolas Maury in the role of Archibald), some secondary characters make us totally out of this atmosphere so well established (we can think of the director of the Wild Boys Bertrand Mandico, here as assistant to Anne, who struggles to align the sentences of the scenario by giving them some intonation). 

Heart

Yann Gonzalez's latest film is a brilliant cycle full of hope: while, until the credits, this cycle seems hellish, with murders that follow one another and start again and aborted love stories that cross the ages, a post-credits scene comes to deliver from this curse, and allows a real conclusion. This hybrid feature film has multiple hearts, but each of them is filled with both humility and boldness, to offer a fascinating and fascinated experience.

Trailer A Knife in the Heart: