François Ozon's Under the Sand is a great departure from his previous films, trading the bold and over the top farce of Sitcom and the brash melodrama of Criminal Lovers for something much more restrained. As a result, this is a mature film about mature characters, shot in a low-key style that is beautiful, though unobtrusive; with Ozon's camera finding a sense of poetry and evocation in even the most mundane of objects to help further express the sense of grief and remembrance so central to the spirit of our main protagonist. To help convey this, the filmmaker instills his work with a lethargic mood, drawing on the silences of scenes and the physical and emotional distances between his characters to create something that is much more internal and subjective than the ensemble films that he is best known for (Sitcom, Water Drops On Burning Rocks, 8 Women, etc).
It's almost a cliché to reference Bergman when talking of films that focus almost solely on the existential matters at the heart of their characters, but I suppose it could be relevant here; the film also reminded me, in tone, of Woody Allen's Bergman-esquire drama Interiors, or perhaps even Another Woman, with the film often confining itself to cramped and quiet locations in which characters meet for sex and lengthy semi-philosophical discussion. It's certainly not a film for the Friday night matinée crowd, but I'd imagine that goes without saying; with the story focusing on middle-aged characters and themes like grief, regret, loss and mental illness. However, the film manages to transcend the chamber-piece trappings of the Bergman style of drama by also giving us an element of mystery. It would be wrong to reveal too much about this central concept in something as ultimately superficial as a product review, although it's safe to say that the film hinges around a question of bereavement and the way in which this bereavement, or loss, is viewed by our central character in relation to those around her.
In this respect the film is similar to George Sluizer's original version of The Vanishing, in the respect that both of these films pivot around a mysterious disappearance, which leaves the absentee's lover desperately searching for some kind of closure. Unlike The Vanishing however, Under the Sand relegates the more obvious thriller elements to the background in order to more closely analyse the effect of the disappearance and possible death on his lover and her different methods of coming to terms with it. Ozon, as evident from films like Water Drops On Burning Rocks and Swimming Pool, has a strong grasp on his actors, and here draws some beautifully rendered performances from his highly esteemed cast. As some of the other comments have already noted, the central performance from Charlotte Rampling is an absolute revelation, as she creates a character that remains elusive throughout, but at the same time, is completely sympathetic. A much understated drama.
