Fire (2022, Claire Denis) depicts an idyllic paradise vacation shared by a couple, captured in Denis’ inimitable style: sensuously textured intimacy with shapes of bodies in contact verging on abstract expressionism. But upon returning to Paris, what ensues is a moody melodrama set to an ominous Tindersticks score.
The narrative’s construction could be described as opening with a quaint bubble where a comfortable romance is contained within; then from that point is followed by an unvarnished, heavy, fearsome outer space that offers little to no comfort for anyone—but isn’t this more satisfying anyway? Denis’ raw emotional claustrophobic confrontation with the formidable performances of 2 of her most captivating performers—Juliette Binoche and Vincent Lindon—is blanketed with her warmth and tenderness in ways not found in Cassavetes or Bergman. But this isn’t to say it isn’t painful.
Claire Denis has always been a filmmaker who paints pain beautifully. Fire doesn’t moralize the position of either of its central characters. And the complications are the subject of the film, not any type of resolutions. So, it’s here that again the French prove how to provide that which Hollywood forgot how to.
7/22/2022 Regal Tara
Atlanta, GA
DCP
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