It took invention and widespread use of social media for many bien pensants to become finally aware how much pettines, bigotry, violence and evil can be found among ordinary people. One such individual is the main character in I Stand Alone, 1998 French drama which represented feature directorial debut of Gaspar Noé, film maker (in)famous for Irreversible, one of the most controversial fillms of 21st Century.
The more sensitive viewers are going to be triggered by the mere profession of the unnamed protagonist (played by Philippe Nahon) who, for the most his life, earned his living by butchering horse meat. It wasn’t an easy or happy life, marked by tragedies from the very beginning. The plot, set in 1980s, begins with internal narration describes how the Butcher lost his parents in World War Two, was sexually abused by Catholic priest while growing up, lacked education and had to take job of butcher against his will. After some time he fathered a child only to have girlfriend leaves him with daughter Cynthia (played by Blandine Lenoir) who would later be revealed to seriously mentally impaired. After seeing Cynthia’s first period, Butcher is convinced that the blood is aftermath of rape and he wants to kill a man suspected of crime. His rampage ends with innocent man being stabbed and Butcher ending in prison, where he would reluctantly have sex with men. After the release he gets job of a bartender in tavern owned by obese woman (played by Frankie Pain) who would become his mistress and whom who would make pregnant. She sells tavern and they move in city of Lille where she is supposed to buy him a butcher shop. When she reneges her promise, their relationship soon gets very sour and ends with horrific act of violence. He escapes and spends time between fruitless search for job, contemplating using pistol on people who wronged him and attempts to reconnect with his institutionalised daughter towards whom he starts having incestuous desires.
I Stand Alone represents remake of Noé’s 1991 short film Carne which also starred Philippe Nahon and Bladine Lenoir. Noé and his girlfriend and producer Lucille Hadžilović have spent years trying to get funds for the feature film version which would ultimately be premiered at Cannes Film Festival and later win main prize at Sarajevo Film Festival. Many critics have found certain similarities between I Stand Alone and Scorsese’s Taxi Driver - both films feature working class and not exactly bright protagonist who feels alienated from society, as well as protagonist’s thoughts being delivered through monologue. Inevitable comparisons, however, would point towards Noé’s film being much rougher around edges and definitely more difficult to watch. Noé, who would later become one of the most infamous representatives of French cinema trend called New French Extremity, doesn’t shy away from the more graphic displays of violence, resulting in some rather disturbing images and making this film not recommednable to more sensitive viewers. I Stand Alone is disturbing not only because of images, but also because of the protagonists’ views in internal monologue containing the racism, misogyny and fantasies of violence and incest. Philippe Nahon plays such character in a way to make him despicable yet fascinating enough for the audience that stops at the road to look at traffic incident scenes. Noé, on the other hand, makes his film slightly confusing with some “artsy” stylistic choices, which includes use of intertitles and even a “clever” warning about certain scene being watchable to certain categories of audience. I Stand Alone nevertheless shows great directorial skill and bravery in delivering content which is unfathomable for mainstream Hollywood. But to say that this film is an acquired taste would be an understament. Unnamed protagonist would four years later reappear in the opening scene of Irreversible, thus making Noé’s most infamous work a de facto sequel.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
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