Métamorphoses

Seen by your reviewer at the 2014 London Film Festival, 'Métamorphoses' transplants Ovid's 'Metamorphoses' to modern-day, working-class France (for those unfamiliar with Ovid - I'm not sure I'd ever heard of him - he was a poet from ancient Rome). A group of Roman deities wander the countryside meddling in human affairs - meddling that generally involves nudity and livestock.

I can't make up my mind whether or not I like this film; I will say it was engrossing. Despite the 'flashbacks within flashbacks within flashbacks' structure, writer/director Christophe Honoré manages to keep the storyline, such as it is, flowing neatly and the viewer does not get confused about where he is in the narrative.

Little of the nudity is particularly attractive; unfortunately Honoré has gone for people with natural, rather than film star (or indeed classical god-like), bodies! But my main concern is the treatment of the many animals in the film: a cow simply standing tethered in a field is one thing, but in the scene where a lion and lioness are trapped in a room and the lioness begins to attack the lion, one wonders whether that was spontaneous action or was she trained to do it - and if so, was anyone concerned for the animals' welfare?

No review needed. If you watch this movie and you find it enjoyable, stop, leave what you are doing, and seek a psychiatrist with urgency! you are literally minutes away from a mental breakdown and your life and others are truly in danger.

At this point in my reviews I usually provide an objective summary of the initial plot, before launching into my view of the movie. That is impossible with this movie as there is no discernible plot.

Apparently the movie is about gods walking on earth and frolicking / toying with humans. That much is consistent with what I saw, but that provides the background to the plot, at best. Beyond that, there's nothing.

Quite random and nonsensical. One scene doesn't seem to follow from another. If each scene is a mini-story, they're pretty boring, pointless, inconclusive stories. Which would sum up the entire movie - boring, pointless and inconclusive.

This movie is an adaptation of the poem written by the Roman poet Ovid. It has gorgeous cinematography and beautiful acting. I like the modern depiction of the gods in the Roman pantheon and their interactions with humans.

Christophe Honoré is one of those typical French author cineasts: it doesn't get any artier than this. Nothing wrong with some pretentious French cinema of course. Métamorphoses has some very strong and unique moments, especially because of the transgressive way Honoré explores Ovid's mythological universe and transports it to a contemporary context. On the other hand, the transgressive style and content are harmless and even quite loyal to Ovid's poem. Seen in that way, this film isn't transgressive at all and has more of an artsy, experimental pretence. That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it, but it all is quite superficial for a movie that attempts to be something much more. The cinematography is extremely beautiful though, as well as the soundtrack and some of its symbolism. But when it comes to French l'art pour l'art cinema, I think Les rencontres d'après minuit succeeds way better in its intent. Maybe because, although the film also is very autoletic, it transcends itself by subverting some bourgeois notions. Something Métamorphoses didn't do at all. But then again, maybe it's just me and my limited way of experiencing films like this.