It all begins
innocuously, in a Literature class, after Professor Germain Germain (Fabrice
Luchini) asks his students to write an essay on how they spent their weekend.
Most of the essays submitted are completely worthless and lacking any kind of
creativity, but one particular write-up catches Germain's eye. Claude Garcia (Ernst
Umhauer), a relatively bright 16-year old, describes in a rather enticing
manner, a weekend visit to his best friend Rapha's house to help him with his
Math.
The description turns out
to be much more sensational than mundane, as the writer expresses his somewhat unsavoury
desires to explore the house further, and dig deeper into its inhabitants, the
characters of his essay, especially Rapha's beautiful mother, Esther
(Emanuelle Seigner) who is at the center of Claude's voyeuristic gaze.
Claude's essay ends with
a suspenseful 'to be continued' remark, and raises the curiosity of not only
the professor but also his art-dealer wife, Jeanne (Kristin Scott Thomas).
Before they know it, they are hooked; like soap opera or reality show addicts!
Germain, guided by his
wife's penchant for substance, prods Claude to write succeeding chapters,
claiming that he has great writing talent and should cultivate it by continuing
this family drama in a novel format. Of course, continuing the story would mean
more visits to Rapha's house. As Claude turns in daily chapters, developing the
story into a fascinating family yarn, sometimes of a scandalous nature, Germain
and Jeanne take vicarious pleasure in a reality show they cannot see. Only it
is soon too late, when things start to get out of control not only in Rapha's
household but also in Germain's life at the cost of building a great story!
François Ozon's "Dans La
Maison" or "In the House" (2012) plays out in a rather farcical fashion, like a
breezy comedy for the most part, but Ozon succeeds in conveying certain
pertinent themes, and raises several questions about the human consumption of
sensationalism and the inherent existence of a voyeur in practically every
human being despite their hypocritical denial. He makes us muse about human
curiosity in general, and the undeniable fact that people do find an intrigue
in the lives of others, more importantly when there are downs rather than ups
in them! After all who is interested in monotony? It is only when there are
ripples, that notice is taken.
Ozon examines a
consumer's never ending hunger for something outlandish, by subtly blurring the
line between the guide and the guided, the manipulator and the manipulated, as
they appear to switch places. Whilst Germain is guiding Claude to build his
narrative, he in turn becomes a slave to Claude's writing, often becoming
dependent on it, and even compromising his ethics when it threatens to come to
an end. Further blurred is the line between fiction and reality, for we see
events only from Claude's perspective as he narrates the words in his
write-ups. But how much of it is real and how much is made up, is largely
unknown, partly because we do see an instance of a modified event, reshaped at
the behest of Germain himself, on the pretext of pleasing the reader.
A notable parallel
subplot involves Jeanne's art gallery and her desperate struggle to keep it
afloat and save it from shutting down by having the best of exhibits and boosting
sales. She keeps bringing new artworks and seeks Germain's opinions on them,
who often comments about whether a particular art form will sell or not. An
important reading to be made here is about art for the sake of art and its
viability for commercialism. The credibility of an artwork is decided on its marketability
and in this regard, Germain always seems to care about an art piece only if he
thinks it will sell.
Germain's sentiments are
more or less in the same vein when guiding Claude with his novella, except in
this case, he claims he is doing it to groom a literary genius, a budding
writer; something that he couldn't become, with only a failed romantic novel to
his credit. And yet, it is clear as much to the viewer, that he is indeed, more
driven by the voyeuristic consumer inside him, for he tastes blood in Claude's
sensational story. Only when the sensationalism appears to go way out of hand,
he makes a very smart remark invoking the great Italian auteur Pier Paolo Pasolini, one which is certain to bring a smile on the faces of the fans of "Teorema" (1968).
The main theme is
reflected in an important sequence by means of an offbeat artwork that Jeanne
demonstrates; an audio artwork. The artist verbally describes the artwork and
the listener is allowed to (re)create it with his/her interpretation or
imagination of the artist's intention. It pretty much mirrors the essence of
reading a novel and the very activity Germain is involved in with Claude.
Claude writes, and Germain creates a mental picture of Rapha's family in his
mind!
Ozon goes on to have some
fun himself with the narrative device, and demonstrates the power of cinema and
how the medium can be manipulated to suit viewer expectations and requirements.
Just as Prof. Germain alters certain events in Claude's writings to meet reader
expectations, Ozon toys around with absurdity, creating very interesting meta-moments
in which he places Germain himself at the very heart of the action, in the
house, which is the center of Claude's beguiling story. It is a very intricately
constructed, meticulous screenplay which pays a fitting homage to Alfred
Hitchcock's "Rear Window" (1954), one of the earliest cinematic depictions of voyeurism.
Despite the delicious
oddities, originality and intelligence that "In the House" certainly possesses,
it does feel like Ozon somehow refrains from pushing the envelope. The
narrative seems restrained and appears to become stagnant and just slightly monotonous
after a point. Furthermore, in the process of providing an ending, much like
Claude in the film, Ozon takes some abruptly clumsy turns that fail to
convince.
Ozon has made better
films than "In the House", but there is no doubt that this is one of the most
unique and premium offerings in his filmography.
Score: 8/10
No comments:
Post a Comment