Tuesday 24 March: Bastards (18)

Original title: “Les salauds”
France  –  Revenge thriller  –  Year: 2013  –  Running time: 100 mins

Audience feedback: Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3.17 from 28 votes)

  • Bastards‘Excellent’: 7 votes
  • ‘Very Good’: 2 votes
  • ‘Good’: 7 votes
  • ‘Satisfactory’: 4 votes
  • ‘Poor’: 4 votes
  • 4 comments submitted with no grade

Denis (35 Shots of Rum, Beau Travail) weaves a powerful web of intrigue and macabre menace in this atmospheric neo-noir, as headspinning as The Big Sleep. Marco, a ship’s captain, abandons his post, returning to France when he hears that his sister is in trouble. Her husband has committed suicide, driven to despair by debt repayments to a shadowy businessman and allowing the sexual exploitation of his daughter in lieu of cash. Marco now seeks an intricate revenge. A pulsing original soundtrack enhances the disquieting mood.

Bastards is Denis’ most eventful, impactful film in quite some time.
Tara Brady, Irish Times

Director: Claire Denis
White Material (2009) / 35 Shots of Rum (2008) / Beau Travail (1999)

Read about this film in IMDB

Film notes (Peter Bunyan)
Audience feedback
Discussion

Further reading:
Telegraph Film (Robbie Collin)
Guardian Film (Peter Bradshaw)

Theatrical trailer:

One thought on “Tuesday 24 March: Bastards (18)

  1. I did not like this film not because of the subject matter or the nudity. I found parts of it irrelevant or disjointed to the storyline or characterisation. The disappearance of the child part the way through the film is an example. The film was not subtle. It was unnecessarily in your face. Having seen the traumatised Justine early on and head the Doctors view that surgery was necessary the later image of Justine with blood down her legs was unnecessary. I assume we can work things out for ourselves. Similarly the last images of the video were again clunky as the father had been seen on camera earlier. It was purient pornography disguised as art. It is altogether surprising it was directed by a woman. The film’ s view of men as powerful, manipulative, cruel is unsurprising and probably accurate. I have no objection to the film being shown it just could have been done better.

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