REVIEW: Béatrice Dalle Plays an Alcoholic Mathematician Sexpot in Domain — So What Are You Waiting For?
It’s hard to say whether Patric Chiha’s unabashedly out-there drama Domain is actually good or whether it simply nuzzles very cozily against the shoulder of so-bad-it’s-good. After seeing the movie twice, I’m inclined to say Domain splits the difference -- Chiha knows when the story is wobbling off the rails of credibility and leans into the turn, embracing the narrative’s full-on nuttiness. And face it: You don’t cast Béatrice Dalle as a middle-aged (but sensuous as heck) alcoholic mathematician unless you mean business. No wonder John Waters named Domain his number-one movie of 2010.
Now viewers Stateside can bask in the picture’s bonkers glory, but be forewarned: The demented pleasures of Domain are slow-burning ones. As Waters aptly put it in Art Forum, this is a movie where the two main characters form a “perversely close” relationship by taking walks – “Lots of walks! So many walks you’ll be left breathless by the sheer elegance of this astonishing little workout.” You may also wobble out feeling more than a little pickled: Dalle plays Nadia, a brilliant but sozzled thinker who’s idolized by her teenaged nephew, Pierre (Isaïe Sultan). It seems Pierre is still trying to figure out his sexuality (though when he decisively chooses the dress Nadia should wear to dinner one evening, it’s pretty clear which team he’s leaning toward). Mostly, though, he’s captivated by his aunt, sneaking away from his disapproving mother, Nadia’s sister, to spend time with her. And why wouldn’t he? When the two step into a café for a glass of wine, Nadia gulps most of hers before loudly berating the waiter, the corners of her mouth turned down in a task-mistress’ pout. “This white wine is undrinkable. How dare you serve it,” she observes dryly as she spills the remaining contents of the glass over the table, letting it dribble onto her high-heeled shoe.
But mostly, Pierre and Nadia do walk, Nadia spinning out webs of cracked wisdom with every step. Noticing an elderly couple in the park, their strides out of step, she remarks, “People don’t know how to walk; they have no rhythm.” Later, seeing a jumble of kids playing happily, she sneers, “How can children stand being with so many other children?”
Nadia has had myriad lovers and interesting friends in her life (it appears that most of the latter, and perhaps some of the former, have been gay), and Pierre is curious about them all. Why, he wants to know, did she break up with the one named Walter, who appears to have been one of her favorites? “Probably because I couldn’t stay with one person forever – especially an Austrian physicist.” Her reasoning is silly until you ask yourself – would you want to be saddled for life with an Austrian physicist, especially if you were a gap-toothed babe with a brain made for the French equivalent of MIT (whatever that is) and a body made for sin? I thought not.
The relationship between Pierre and Nadia becomes increasingly tangled: Pierre pulls away from her slightly, dallying with adorable boys he meets on public transportation and otherwise recognizing that his auntie may be just a wee bit unstable. Nadia becomes more withdrawn, though it’s hard to say if she actually starts drinking more. (She simply drinks a lot, to the point that her doctor tells her she’ll die if she doesn’t stop immediately.) Later, a very different sort of Austrian turns up in a slinky red turtleneck dress, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Chiha also wrote the script for Domain, and while some of the dialogue comes off as pure wack-a-doodle, it’s never laughable enough to throw you out of the picture. In fact, Domain is compelling precisely because of its lack of embarrassment. As Pierre, Sultan deftly walks the line between boyish innocence and erotic sophistication: He’s sweet, but there’s a pheromone-cloud of mystery hanging about him, too. And Dalle is just made for these loony-sexpot roles (never, until the day I die, will I forget the image of her driving those sled dogs at the end of Claire Denis’s inscrutable, incomparable L’Intrus). She doesn’t disappoint here: Her Nadia is voracious, an appetite walking around on two impossibly long stems. Her mouth, bulbous like some sort of brilliant, fleshy undersea creature, looks hungry for everything. But we never see Nadia making love, or even seeming to want love. Instead, she delights in making workaday aphorisms sound sensual: “Mathematics are a way of organizing the world.” “Without mathematics, I’d be a liquid without a container.”
Domain is a strange little picture, florid, probing, passionate in its very nuttiness. But Waters wasn’t overreaching in his use of the word “elegant.” Mathematics may, as Nadia believes, be a way of organizing the world. But numbers have their own unspoken allure, above and beyond their inherent usefulness. Domain has the austerity of a gleaming mathematical equation, yet it’s deeply in touch with the mystery of human fragility – as if a life could be swept away by brushing too carelessly against the chalkboard. It’s a movie about the Venn-diagram center between wanting too much and wanting nothing.
Follow Stephanie Zacharek on Twitter.
Follow Movieline on Twitter.
Subscribe to the new Movieline on YouTube
Comments
I leave a leave a response whenever I especially enjoy a post on a site or I
have something to add to the discussion. Usually it
is a result of the passion displayed in the article I browsed.
And on this article REVIEW: Béatrice Dalle Plays an Alcoholic
Mathematician Sexpot in Domain — So What Are You Waiting For?
- Movieline. I was moved enough to post a thought 🙂 I actually do have a few questions
for you if you usually do not mind. Could it be simply me or
does it look like some of these remarks look like coming from brain dead
folks? 😛 And, if you are writing at additional online social sites, I'd like to keep up with you. Would you make a list the complete urls of your community pages like your linkedin profile, Facebook page or twitter feed?
Hey there! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any issues with hackers?
My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I ended up
losing a few months of hard work due to no data backup.
Do you have any solutions to stop hackers?
This is the perfect website for anybody who really wants
to find out about this topic. You understand so
much its almost tough to argue with you (not that I actually will
need to…HaHa). You definitely put a fresh spin on a topic
which has been discussed for a long time. Wonderful stuff,
just excellent!
Great information. Lucky me I came across your blog by chance (stumbleupon).
I've bookmarked it for later!
Very good article. I'm dealing with some of these issues as well..
If you would like to increase your experience only keep visiting this site
and be updated with the newest information posted
here.
With havin so much written content do you ever run into any problems of plagorism or copyright violation? My blog has a lot of exclusive content I've either authored myself or outsourced but it
appears a lot of it is popping it up all over the internet without my permission. Do you know any techniques to help protect against content
from being ripped off? I'd truly appreciate it.
Hello! I've been reading your website for a long time now and finally got the bravery to go
ahead and give you a shout out from Austin Texas! Just wanted to tell
you keep up the excellent work!
Good post. I learn something new and challenging on sites I
stumbleupon every day. It will always be exciting to read content from other
writers and practice a little something from other websites.
Thanks for sharing such a good thinking, piece of writing is
pleasant, thats why i have read it fully
Magnificent web site. Lots of helpful information here. I am sending
it to several buddies ans additionally sharing in delicious.
And of course, thanks in your effort!
Шоколадка для похудения шоколад slim для
похудения отзывы Слово "шоколад" заставляет людишек улыбаться во
весь рот наслаждения вроде как, и разочарованно
охать, представляя будто это отразится
потом возьми лицу - с другой.
Особенно это касается этих, который давно с тревогой поглядывает возьми цифры весов.
Значит желаете освободиться от лишних килограммов и приобрести подтянутую фигуру, но не имеет возможности долго сидеть на диете и отвергать для
себя в сладостях? Имеется один средство, позволяющее и рыбачку съесть, и выгоду заполучить - это Шоколад для
похудения Chocolate Slim. Дьявол владеет приятным привкусом и подсобляет дробить
жирные запасы. Состав ШОКОЛАДА Продукт содержит лишь естественные природные
компоненты. Главными составляющими является естественное шоколадное дерево, ягоды годжи,
зеленоватый кофе и концентрат гриба линчжи.
Лекарство подступает про ежедневного использования и
не владеет противопоказаний.
Устраняет саму фактор возникновения лишнего веса,
нормализуя меновые процессы в организме.
Зерна Зеленого Кофе Уничтожают аппетит, бодрят и заполняют энергией Натуральное Шоколадное дерево
Убыстряет оксидировка жиров, усиливает иммунитет на время похудения, подавляет тягу к сладостному, производит нейрогормон ЯГОДЫ АССАИ Содержат цианидин, который перекрывает развитие жировых клеток -
наверное природный источник антиоксидантов Семена ЧИА Заполняют энергией, препятствуют отложению жира
в проблематичных местах Концентрат
ГРИБА ЛИНЧЖИ Нормализует жирной обмен и улучшает работу только организма.
Понижает уровень холестерина в крови ЯГОДЫ ГОДЖИ Природный жиросжигатель - с ними сало перестает
откладываться Польза Про ОРГАНИЗМА Шоколад содержит
лишь натуральные компоненты и владеет иммуномодулирующим, противоопухолевым, противовирусным, антибиотическим, гиполипидемическим, гипогликемическим, гепатопротекторным, генопротекторным,
противовоспалительным, противоаллергенным и антиоксидантным действием.
Дьявол благоприятно влияет возьми сердечно-сосудистую, дыхательную и нервную порядка.
ChocolateSlim несомненно поможет не
только восстановить авторитет,
да и улучшит общее положение организма.
Во главные достоинства провианта: убыстряет стиль; оздоровляет индивидуум; увеличивает иммунитет; убавляет аппетит;
У меня машина 2010 года оформить сбктс
У меня грузовик 2004 года требуется получить сбктс
У меня грузовик 2002 года требуется сбктс
В Российской Федерации каждый день выдается огромное колличество подобных подтверждений специальных испытательных лабораторий для нужд таможенной службы и правильного оформления. Компания входит в список аккредитованных учреждений, которые имеют право оформлять свидетельства. Наша компания уже давно специализируется на выдачи свидетельств, потому обладает большим опытом, оперативно вашу заявку и выдадим подтверждающие документа. Вы постоянно легко сможете заказать свидетельство о безопасности конструкции ТС, предоставив небольшой пакет документации и заявление на экспертизу в нашу компанию.
сбктс что такое