Sight and Sound (2006) - Under the Influence
Details
- article: Under the Influence
- journal: Sight and Sound (01/May/2006)
- issue: volume 16, issue 5, pages 20-22
- journal ISSN: 0037-4806
- publisher: British Film Institute
- keywords: Alfred Hitchcock, American cinema, Bel Air, Los Angeles, California, Cahiers du Cinéma, Cary Grant, Claude Chabrol, Dial M for Murder (1954), Dominik Möll, Feature films, Film (International), Film (Productions), Film directors, François Truffaut, French cinema, Frenzy (1972), Grace Kelly, Influences, Inspirations, James Bell, James M. Vest, James Stewart, Kim Novak, Lemming (2005), North by Northwest (1959), Rear Window (1954), San Francisco, California, Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Strangers on a Train (1951), The Birds (1963), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), Thrillers, To Catch a Thief (1955), Vertigo (1958), Éric Rohmer
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Abstract
Dominik Moll's Lemming is a slick example of those movies in which the cosy lives of a young middle-class couple are disrupted by violence. Alain -- played by Laurent Lucas and Benedicte -- played by Charlotte Gainsbourg -- have just moved into a box-like house in a soulless French suburb called Bel-Air. Here, Buss examines Lemming, Moll's recent film, which explores the meaning of the affinity between the French and the lugubrious suspense master.
Article
Dominik Moll openly avows Hitchcock as an influence on his film Lemming. But what is the meaning of this affinity between the French and the lugubrious suspense master, asks Robin Buss Plus Moll talks to James Bell overleaf
Dominik Moll's Lemming is a slick example of those movies in which the cosy lives of a young middle-class couple are disrupted by violence. Alain (Laurent Lucas) and Bénédicte (Charlotte Gainsbourg) have just moved into a box-like house in a soulless French suburb called Bel-Air. He is a designer, currently working on a remote-controlled robot that will warn homeowners of accidents such as a leaking pipe via their mobile phones, then take appropriate action. Meanwhile at home Bénédicte is preparing dinner for Alain's boss (André Dussolier) and his wife Alice (Charlotte Rampling) when she finds their plumbing blocked by what turns out to be a lemming. The dinner is a disaster: Alice starts abusing her husband and her hosts. Later she will try to seduce Alain, then commit suicide. Meanwhile the lemmings appear to be taking over the house.
It is at this point, if they have not already done so, that critics will reach for comparisons with Alfred Hitchcock and The Birds. There is a difference: in The Birds we never have any doubt that the creatures are real, and only secondarily a metaphor, whereas the lemmings in Moll's film (apart from the first) may be a figment of Alain's imagination. But this is not the only Hitchcockian element: when Bénédicte starts to take on the identity of the dead Alice, we start to think of Vertigo. And if you think you have found an analogy with Hitchcock in any French thriller, it's pretty sure to be there.
Because the French lov...
