Locarno 2024 Review: DRAGON DILATATION Captures Bertrand Mandico's Foray Into Theater Through Meta-Cinematic Hybrid

French filmmaker Bertrand Mandico, known for his provocative and experimental approach, returned to the Locarno Film Festival following last year’s screenings of Connan.

This year, the festival chose to showcase a compilation of Mandico's works not originally intended for cinema. Titled Dragon Dilatation, the collection includes two distinct pieces: Petrouchka and La Déviante Comédie.

Mandico, who frequently defies the conventional boundaries of cinema by blending genres and using unconventional narrative techniques, is recognized for creating fantastical worlds that explore themes of identity, transformation, and the fluidity of gender. His previous films, such as Wild Boys and After Blue (Dirty Paradise), are marked by dreamlike visuals, bold color palettes, and a playfulness that often veers into the surreal.

Dragon Dilatation represents a departure from Mandico’s typically oneiric style, as both pieces were originally conceived for the stage. Petrouchka is his reinterpretation of Stravinsky’s ballet, which was intended for theater but was instead recorded on film due to COVID-19 restrictions.

In Mandico’s version, the titular character—a puppet who is also a female model—resides in an underground bunker and becomes addicted to pills to survive in the fashion industry, ultimately meeting a tragic fate. Set in a confined, claustrophobic space, Mandico uses a split-screen technique to introduce dynamism and a dizzying spatiality, integrating the camera as an active participant in the choreography and in dialogue with characters.

The aesthetic choices in Petrouchka, which situate the ballet within the world of fashion and its associated abuses, offer a stark commentary on power dynamics and exploitation. By setting the narrative in the underground milieu of fashion models, Mandico presents a dark reflection on human suffering and the commodification of bodies, underscored by a strong political undertone.

The second piece, La Déviante Comédie, features footage from an unpublished performance rehearsed at the Théâtre des Amandiers. It serves as a meta-commentary on filmmaking and performance, blurring the lines between reality and fiction.

Shot in 16mm and assembled from two parallel takes, the film explores the rhythm and variations of the actors' performances, creating a narrative that feels simultaneously spontaneous and carefully crafted. Although set in the Connan universe, La Déviante Comédie is not a direct sequel or prequel but rather a meta-commentary, utilizing a ready-made cast from Connan, including Elina Löwensohn's character, the hell-hound Rainer.

Last year, as part of the Connan package, Locarno screened the Barbarian series of short films from the Connan universe, which also served as meta-films. Titled collectively as the Barbarian Cycle, these included Nous les Barbares and Rainer, a Vicious Dog in a Skull Valley. La Déviante Comédie clearly belongs to this cycle.

Dragon Dilatation is primarily for Mandico’s dedicated fans and completists, showcasing his foray into stage performance and his engagement with performance art beyond the cinematic medium. While under ordinary circumstances these works might have appeared as DVD/Blu-ray extras or part of a retrospective, the festival's decision to present them on the big screen is fitting. It highlights Locarno's openness to avant-garde and experimental film hybrids, as both Mandico's pieces can be categorized as film essays.