NE TE RETOURNE PAS (DON'T LOOK BACK) Review
Last night saw the opening of Hong Kong's 38th French Cinepanorama, which will host nearly 40 films in theatres around the city over the next two weeks. Kicking things off was Marina De Van's psychological drama, NE TE RETOURNE PAS.
Already an accomplished biographer and writer of historical non-fiction, Jeanne (Sophie Marceau) has made the decision to turn her gaze inward and write her first novel, based on the first 8 years of her own life. The problem, however, is that due to some unknown childhood trauma, she has never been able to remember these years, and nobody, not even her own mother seems willing to divulge what happened. What's more, her family, friends and even her long-time publisher appear determined to discourage her from pursuing this idea, claiming it has begun to take an emotional toll on Jeanne.
Almost from the first moment Jeanne appears on screen it is obvious something is troubling her. Within the opening few minutes she has nearly collapsed in her publisher's office, started seeing and hearing strange things in the street and by the time she gets home is already calling things into question. She insists that furniture has been moved around, that the décor of rooms has changed and even that she can no longer recognize her husband and two young children. This is deeply unsettling not just for Jeanne, but also for the viewer. Jeanne begins to point out these changes so early on that it is difficult to decide if she is right or not. We begin to question our own memory - Was the living room different before? Is that still the same actor playing her husband?
It is not long before Jeanne sees changes in her own appearance too. Scars on her arms and legs appear and disappear, her hair changes colour and imperceptibly at first, her face slowly begins to morph into somebody else's. It is an effect that wonderfully unnerves the audience as we also begin to suffer from Jeanne's condition. It is only when the whole right side of her face is clearly no longer hers that we can be sure something really is happening and that Jeanne's is definitely changing from Sophie Marceau into Monica Bellucci. By now, her mother, husband and children are all clearly different people and her house is unrecognizable. But when Jeanne discovers a photograph depicting her mother both as she appears now and as she remembered her before, she is determined to unearth the truth once and for all.
The visual effects used by director Marina de Van are the single most effective element of this psychological melodrama, that clearly show one woman acting and moving around but who simultaneously resembles two of Europe's most accomplished and beautiful actresses. The result is not only deeply freaky but also quite hideous to look at and does a fantastic job of drawing the audience into Jeanne's plight. Coupled by two beautifully vulnerable performances from the lead actresses.
The film recalls Sean Ellis' THE BROKEN, and is about as successful. That too calls into question the validity of it's female lead's surroundings and memories and asks whether perceived changes are actually taking place or all in her head. In both cases the idea is more successful than the final result, with the mystery in NE TE RETOURNE PAS proving to be more intriguing than the final resolution. But along the way, it is a quietly creepy and unnerving ride, that successfully crawls under the skin and stays put.
Cross published in bc Magazine (Hong Kong)
