Weekend films

'The Beast', an extraordinary audiovisual experience

Bertrand Bonello's powerful feature film starring Léa Seydoux arrives in cinemas

by Andrea Chimento

22 November 2024

3' min read

Key points

A science fiction melodrama
Le déluge

3' min read

A beast to narrate contemporaneity: 'The Beast' arrives in our cinemas, one of the most important titles of the year to reflect on the world around us, the virtual universe and human relationships in today's society.

It is no coincidence that behind the camera is Bertrand Bonello, French director and author of some of the most interesting films of recent years among those that have attempted to narrate our present through a series of stimulating symbolism. Just think of the extremely powerful 'Nocturama', a film in which aesthetics merge with content, or the experimental 'Coma', one of the most profound and touching audiovisual reasonings on the subject of Covid and the pandemic.

Set in a near future where artificial intelligence reigns supreme, 'The Beast' tells of a world where human emotions are now considered a threat. To get rid of them, Gabrielle must purify her DNA: she therefore immerses herself in previous lives, where she meets Louis, her great love, again.

“The Beast” e gli altri film della settimana
Photogallery4 foto

This (great) film opens with a sequence set in a set surrounded by a gigantic green screen, where the protagonist has to act while imagining objects and characters that will later be added in post-production. Thus, from the very first minutes, 'The Beast' also proves to be a film about cinema and the gaze, so much so that it represents one of the most fascinating viewing experiences of recent times.

Past and present mingle, fictitious images merge with real ones, through a mise-en-scene where the analogue and digital worlds dance without barriers of any kind and in which we spectators also lose ourselves along with the protagonist.

A sci-fi melodrama

If the entire film is played on hybridisation, genres also (con)merge in this feature film that marries science fiction as much as melodrama: like several of the best science fiction films in history, 'The Beast' is also and above all an emotional love story, in which one does nothing more than search for one's lost soul mate between time and space, computer screens and the need for real human contact.

The points of view multiply, also looking back to the cinema of the past (masters such as Alain Resnais and Chris Marker may come to mind) but managing to create a product that is always original and capable of becoming a sort of mirror of our today and our fears.

Bonello has always been a talented auteur, but with this film he has surpassed himself, giving the spectator a series of metaphors and allegories that are all to be interpreted and rich in suggestions. To highlight is yet another great performance by Léa Seydoux, who confirms herself as one of the most important actresses in contemporary cinema.

Le déluge

Among the week's new releases is 'Le déluge: gli ultimi giorni di Maria Antonietta', a co-production between Italy and France, directed by Gianluca Jodice, a director born in Naples in 1973, known for having signed 'Il cattivo poeta' in 2020, a film starring Sergio Castellitto as Gabriele D'Annunzio.

'Le déluge' is set in 1792, when Louis XVI, his wife Marie Antoinette and their children were arrested and imprisoned in the Tour du Temple, a gloomy Parisian fortress, awaiting trial. For the first time in their lives they find themselves isolated and vulnerable away from the splendours of Versailles.

The title of the film ('The Flood') is particularly apt to convey the film's apocalyptic atmosphere, the end of a fast-changing world and the personal one of characters who find themselves in a totally unexpected situation.

The traumatic collapse of an era is effectively connected with the fall of the masks of the royal family, thanks to good historical reconstruction and striking visual choices.

Something creaks in the pacing and overall involvement, but the project's ambition and its great appeal are undeniable, making it definitely worth watching and enhanced by the intense performances of Guillaume Canet and Mélanie Laurent.