Raw - directed by Julia Ducournau
This film disappointed me hugely and it may be at least partly my fault that it did so.
As I was walking into the screening tonight I scooped up a flyer for the film and quickly skimmed the blurb on the back.
'...some of the most powerful and beautiful on-screen imagery since Gaspar Noe's IRREVERISBLE' it read.
'A gift of a scary movie, one that's rooted in character and story...' said another piece.
I was already hyped for this film based on a slew of positive stories, reviews and awards but comparing it to "Irreversible" a film that I vividly remember watching at a film festival years ago in almost stunned silence boded well for this film.
But as the movie ended a couple of hours later I sat in my seat with a 'Is that it?' feeling.
"Raw" concerns 16 year old Justine who is starting her first year at a prestigious veterinary college.
Her older sister Alexia is ahead of her at the same school.
Justine is a vegetarian and is reluctant to eat a raw rabbit liver (or kidney?) when it is presented to her as part of new student hazing.
Alexia tells her to grow up and pushes her into eating the organ.
Soon after Justine finds herself craving more meat.
Later while attempting to perform a Brazilian wax on her younger sister Alexia loses a finger and faints.
With the older woman lying out cold and a freshly severed finger sitting there next to her it is not hard to pick what will happen next.
I don't know if it was this scene or later ones that caused the alleged distress of audience members at screenings overseas but honestly I am baffled by the reaction.
To anyone who has seen even a few horror films there is nothing here that should cause too much discomfort let alone nausea.
There is a bit of nudity and some minor gore and sure- the violence is easier to relate to given that there is nothing fantastical or unrealistic - everything could happen.
(think of the scalpel to thumb bit in John Carpenter's "The Thing")
But fainting and medical attention for people at Toronto screenings?!
Really?
With a lack of anything overtly boundary pushing or particularly shocking I started to watch the film with an eye to subtext.
I wondered what director Julia Ducournau's point was.
With a focus on two female characters the film can be read as a sort of role reversal with the women eyeing up male classmates as literal pieces of meat.
Something that many women can no doubt relate to every day.... in a sexual way as opposed to a culinary one of course.
But this angle seems to slide by the wayside as the film progresses.
If there is a commentary on the eating of meat I missed that too.
The sexual angle also seemed half explored at best to me.
Justine is a virgin and spends a lot of time with a gay classmate who finally has sex with her.
She spends most of the encounter trying to bite pieces of flesh from him and when he resists she settles for a nibble of herself.
Another scene sees Justine covered in blue paint and locked in a room with a young man drenched in yellow paint.
They are told not to come out until they are green.
This scene and several others are striking for their visual inventiveness but for me it is all for nothing.
I have no idea what the point of this film is and frankly I don't much care.
I found this film ponderous and often pretentious.
Occasionally I get an Emperor's new clothes vibe from a film and this one is a case in point.
It seems to have had rapturous praise from all quarters but I can't find too much good to say about it at all other than it is well enough made and passes quickly enough.
I was really looking forward to a genre pushing film but for me this film represents that most annoying of trends - a filmmaker trying to reshape a genre that they don't particularly care for into something else.
Horror movies can be intelligent and they can redefine the genre when done well.
Look no further than the excellent and superbly harrowing French film "Martyrs" or Guillermo Del Toro's chilling and emotionally satisfying "The Devil's Backbone".
For me "Raw" isn't nearly as smart as it seems to think it is or half as original as its reputation suggests.
There is a somewhat interesting finale that I would hazard a guess was the first scene written but everything before promises far more than is ever delivered.
I would rather watch the far more interesting and similarly themed werewolf flick "Ginger Snaps" any day.
Now that is a film about two sisters with issues that packs real bite!
RATING: 70 / 100
CONCLUSION: Maybe I'm missing something in this critically lauded film but I expected great things. I found it flat and uninteresting. It promises a lot but ends suddenly and flatly. Disappointing.
Starring: Garance Marillier, Ella Rumpf, Rabah Nait Oufella, Laurent Lucas, Joana Preiss, Bouli Lanners, Marion Vernoux, Thomas Mustin, Marouan Iddoub, Jean-Louis Sbille, Benjamin Boutboul, Virgil Leclaire
Screenplay: Julia Ducournau
Music Score by: Jim Williams
Cinematography: Ruben Impens
Edited by: Jean-Christophe Bouzy
Running Time: 99 minutes
Language: French
Rated: R18 - Violence, nudity
Running Time: 99 minutes
Language: French
Rated: R18 - Violence, nudity
This film disappointed me hugely and it may be at least partly my fault that it did so.
As I was walking into the screening tonight I scooped up a flyer for the film and quickly skimmed the blurb on the back.
'...some of the most powerful and beautiful on-screen imagery since Gaspar Noe's IRREVERISBLE' it read.
'A gift of a scary movie, one that's rooted in character and story...' said another piece.
I was already hyped for this film based on a slew of positive stories, reviews and awards but comparing it to "Irreversible" a film that I vividly remember watching at a film festival years ago in almost stunned silence boded well for this film.
But as the movie ended a couple of hours later I sat in my seat with a 'Is that it?' feeling.
"Raw" concerns 16 year old Justine who is starting her first year at a prestigious veterinary college.
Her older sister Alexia is ahead of her at the same school.
Justine is a vegetarian and is reluctant to eat a raw rabbit liver (or kidney?) when it is presented to her as part of new student hazing.
Alexia tells her to grow up and pushes her into eating the organ.
Soon after Justine finds herself craving more meat.
Later while attempting to perform a Brazilian wax on her younger sister Alexia loses a finger and faints.
With the older woman lying out cold and a freshly severed finger sitting there next to her it is not hard to pick what will happen next.
I don't know if it was this scene or later ones that caused the alleged distress of audience members at screenings overseas but honestly I am baffled by the reaction.
To anyone who has seen even a few horror films there is nothing here that should cause too much discomfort let alone nausea.
There is a bit of nudity and some minor gore and sure- the violence is easier to relate to given that there is nothing fantastical or unrealistic - everything could happen.
(think of the scalpel to thumb bit in John Carpenter's "The Thing")
But fainting and medical attention for people at Toronto screenings?!
Really?
 |
| Garance Marillier as Justine and Ella Rumpf as Alexia |
I wondered what director Julia Ducournau's point was.
With a focus on two female characters the film can be read as a sort of role reversal with the women eyeing up male classmates as literal pieces of meat.
Something that many women can no doubt relate to every day.... in a sexual way as opposed to a culinary one of course.
But this angle seems to slide by the wayside as the film progresses.
If there is a commentary on the eating of meat I missed that too.
The sexual angle also seemed half explored at best to me.
Justine is a virgin and spends a lot of time with a gay classmate who finally has sex with her.
She spends most of the encounter trying to bite pieces of flesh from him and when he resists she settles for a nibble of herself.
Another scene sees Justine covered in blue paint and locked in a room with a young man drenched in yellow paint.
They are told not to come out until they are green.
This scene and several others are striking for their visual inventiveness but for me it is all for nothing.
I have no idea what the point of this film is and frankly I don't much care.
 |
| "Raw" occasionally recalls genre flicks such as DePalma's "Carrie" |
Occasionally I get an Emperor's new clothes vibe from a film and this one is a case in point.
It seems to have had rapturous praise from all quarters but I can't find too much good to say about it at all other than it is well enough made and passes quickly enough.
I was really looking forward to a genre pushing film but for me this film represents that most annoying of trends - a filmmaker trying to reshape a genre that they don't particularly care for into something else.
Horror movies can be intelligent and they can redefine the genre when done well.
Look no further than the excellent and superbly harrowing French film "Martyrs" or Guillermo Del Toro's chilling and emotionally satisfying "The Devil's Backbone".
For me "Raw" isn't nearly as smart as it seems to think it is or half as original as its reputation suggests.
There is a somewhat interesting finale that I would hazard a guess was the first scene written but everything before promises far more than is ever delivered.
I would rather watch the far more interesting and similarly themed werewolf flick "Ginger Snaps" any day.
Now that is a film about two sisters with issues that packs real bite!
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