Returning to the movies was marked by the dual anticipation of experiencing theatregoing after a long drought, and as a chance to see Julia Ducournau’s Titane, which I’d been awaiting for years since its initial announcement. What I loved about the film, brought into sharp focus what I’d missed about in person viewing experiences. It was loud, brash, sleek and visually indulgent, I felt as if I were gouging myself on pure spectacle; the film resided within me for days afterward.
And then I watched Claire Denis’ Beau Travail and remembered, I like to watch objectively good movies.
Titane is thematically heavy handed, the subject matter rests at the surface of the text like oil on water. It is cloying in its emotions, and the sentimentality is dissonant from the cool, art house register it wishes to operate within. This resulted in, an engrossing viewing experience but ultimately falls in the camp of works positioning themselves squarely against blockbuster fare, while merely existing in a vapid sphere of their own. As I sat with the film more, I was overcome with the sense I was merely wooed by its charms as it had been so long since I’d seen anything in a theatre.
Irregardless, I truly feel as if I am the intended audience for Ducournau’s films. With time, her feature debut Raw, has begun to feel more glib to me but the fact remains, I felt myself reflected on screen for the first time in her protagonist Justine. There is a case to be made for a canon which amounts to films which are the Joker for girls; Ducournau, its vanguard. Those who feel any link to womanhood should be able to have cinematic altars of their own, for projection to run rampant, to use to accrue social capital, for finsta icons and a host of other noble causes. The beginnings of my love for film were stoked by what are commonly known as “film bro” cinema, and to think works of the Joker for girls canon may set people onto their respective journeys of exploration warms my heart. Moreover, they provide a sense of kinship. One of my most memorable screening and tutorial experiences during undergrad was for Raw. It was an object which spurred generative discussion for my peers, the vast majority of which were in their late teens and early twenties.
I believe Ducournau would fare much better in the realm of melodrama, where the overbearing emotions could be honed more usefully. In an interview, she notes her writing process often begins with returning to Greek mythology - indicative of the root of the issue of her provocations. Narratively, she becomes intensely conservative, beginning a process of overlaying foundational texts with subject matter primed for discourse, without adequately troubling the storytelling process or moving beyond the didactic.
Claire Denis is a reference of Ducournau’s but you wouldn’t know it from her filmmaking, beyond the most superficial sense. Beau Travail happened to be the film I watched immediately after Titane and it brought into sharp focus the failings of the former and how I’d been lacking cinematic nourishment. The films do not resemble each other in any meaningful way but the unintentional double feature allowed for some wider rumination about my personal viewing practices. Where Titane is a fleeting pleasure, Beau Travail is a rich source to continually be drawn from.
I’m not precious about the theatregoing experience; if presented with a choice, I will opt for movie theatres but also appreciate the merits of online viewing. The beginning of the pandemic brought some of my favourite viewing experiences to date; the world opened up and things became newly accessible. As time passed, fatigue set in, not borne from some purported futility of smaller screens but the monotony brought on by the pandemic. It became more difficult to engage with works, irregardless of subject matter and viewings bled into one another. Titane awakened my senses whereas Beau Travail proved to me how rewarding more challenging viewing experiences can be, where texts aren’t as readily accessible.
I maintain Denis’ film could enchant on a cracked iPhone 4 while the pleasures of Ducournau’s only worked because of its illusory promises (And the protagonist; primed to be a gay icon, a saving grace of the film and hopefully, destined for worthier pursuits).
Just like many filmmakers who were integral to my development, I will always have a fond spot for Ducournau and continue to follow her work. The catharsis which it offers provides the central argument for a cinema of Joker for girls. Although vapid and self-serious despite its gallows humour, seeing the strife Titane presents is something I still can’t help but savour. It’s about time a weird ass pretty girl won the Palme D’or! There is something deeply gratiating about a woman employing a queer sensibility, however inane, and operating on such a forceful register. Within the limits of my knowledge, I am unsure she has any women contemporaries, at least at the same level of notoriety. I remain committed to expanding my cinematic knowledge to further explore the filmic traditions of women but will never be able to entirely deny myself the asinine rewards of this film. Ultimately, I believe viewing practices require symbiosis — cheap thrills do what they must, palate cleansing stepping stones to deepen appreciation for more revelatory pursuits. And for that, I am grateful.
