Left Bank

My last dealing with Exposure Cinema was with Snowbeast, a really cheap and cheesy monster movie which was a straight to TV affair in the United States. Showing that they're nothing if not versatile, their latest release is a Belgian horror film which isn't one of the ordeal horrors that have made their way out of mainland Europe in recent years (think Inside, Them or Martyrs), but a very deliberately paced film that relies more on atmosphere and a growing sense of unease than on gore and putting the viewer through the ringer for over an hour and a half.

Left Bank begins with long-distance runner Marie who is a very solitary young woman, seemingly preferring her own company and not really minding that she doesn't really have any friends to speak of. One day, after training, she meets Bobby, a much older and outgoing individual whose friends have stolen his clothes after he finished his archery practice and he thought they may have hidden them in the women's locker room. When Marie faints in a shoe shop, she is taken to the doctor's and blood tests reveal that she is physically exhausted and will have to have several weeks rest, meaning that she will miss out on the Championships in Portugal for which she has just qualified.

Without athletics to occupy her time, she begins a relationship with Bobby that is immediately very full on and the two are so much in lust that Marie moves out of her mother's house and in to Bobby's apartment in the run down Left Bank of Antwerp. Bobby is only able to afford the place because the previous tenant mysteriously disappeared and her boyfriend moved out, unable to cope with the memories.

The film begins with a prologue showing a woman pouring over blueprints and identifying an anomaly, which she marks as 'Cellar 51' before heading down to the basement and tearing some drywall down to find what was hidden beyond. When Bobby is away at archery practice, Marie's curiosity gets the best of her and she digs out a box of the former tenant's belongings when a letter, addressed to the previous occupant, is delivered to their pigeonhole in the lobby. Marie discovers the blueprints and decides to take a look for herself.

I always find there is something slightly alienating about watching an atmospheric movie in a foreign language as the language barrier creates more room between you and the film so it is an even more disconcerting experience. Not speaking Dutch (this set in the part of Belgium that speaks Dutch, not German, but which dialect I really couldn't say), I was entirely reliant on subtitles, the inflections and the way the characters emphasised their lines to determine the sense of urgency or otherwise as you can only tell emotion from body language and the way in which lines are delivered.


This is the sort of film that is entirely reliant on the director's skill at choosing the right locations, angles and his instruction to the cinematographer to get the look of the film right so that the music works and the whole thing comes together as a piece with atmosphere and increasing dread rather than something extremely bland and anaemic. The press release says that this is in the vein of The Wicker Man and Rosemary's Baby which is a massive claim. I wouldn't say that this is in the same league as those to genre classics. It is, however an immensely impressive film which shows that Pieter van Hees is an immensely skilled director and considering this is his debut film, he is also a filmmaker of great promise. Apparently this is the first in a planned trilogy called Anatomy of Love and Pain, with each film examining in different aspects of love.

Belgian viewers will probably gain more from this than anyone else as they will know Antwerp and the idea of something buried in the Left Bank will mean much more to someone who knows the history of the Left Bank than a foreigner, like me, who has only just found out about this part of the Belgian capital and how it came to be built.

Both leading cast members are terrific, with Eline Kuppens and Mattias Schoenaerts having palpable on-screen chemistry and Ms. Kuppens putting in a remarkable performance, full of vulnerability coupled with a strong will and a degree of physicality. Adding to this rather brave performance is the amount of nudity required on her part.

The Disc

Extra Features
Apart from the original trailer, a stills gallery and deleted scenes, the main extra feature is a production diary which is 12 minutes of unstructured behind-the-scenes footage with only captions like 'day one' to give you any idea of what they are shooting and when. It is a shame that there was no interview with director Pieter van Hees or either of the two leads.


The Picture
Handsomely shot, and with great attention to detail, Left Bank is a very well photographed movie and one that isn't let down by the image quality on the DVD. The colours show up beautifully and the contrast levels allow for high detail levels in the darker scenes. Clearly a film where great attention has gone into the visuals, this is a great transfer.

The Sound
You have the option of Dolby Digital 5.1 surround or 2.0 stereo and, whilst the surround track is clearly the option to go for as the surround speakers are well employed to build up the atmosphere and tension, you don't lose an awful lot by just using the stereo track.

Helping to build tension and add to the mystery is a wonderfully haunting score which flits in and out, beautifully complementing the terrific sound design.


Final Thoughts
I must admit going into Left Bank with pretty low expectations, probably because it came from the same distribution company that supplied me with Snowbeast, a far from stellar entry into the horror canon! It was immediately clear that this is a completely different kind of film than that movie of the week which is a piece of enjoyable trash, but this is a different beast altogether. Beginning almost as a drama, the characters and pacing allow you to settle into the film before the sand gradually shifts beneath your feet and you slowly enter thriller and then horror territory.

This is an extremely well constructed film which won't be everyone's cup of tea but is a film that's imperceptibly disturbing with no real horror to speak of you're left with the feeling that of deep unease at the end.