Les Revenants

This film stirs a few emotional quandaries, many of which a viewer may choose not to explore. If the purpose of film is to generate thought and reflection as much as to entertain, 'Les Revenants' succeeds by virtue of it's creepy essence and the personal and social problems we'd encounter as individuals if faced with the reality of having our dead loved ones come back to us. The subject is handled cleverly and touchingly by the director who never attempts to drive our view but allows the characters to help us define our feelings. Particularly perplexing for a parent who might give just about anything to see their fallen child again. The misty night scenes, serene almost drugged manner with which the dead carry themselves and the evolution of divided feelings regarding their return by the living give the film an ethereal pace which may disappoint flesh hungry zombie fans.

Four and a half thousand years ago, the Sumerian civilization existed in the land we now call Iraq. In a surviving work of their literature, deciphered from a baked clay tablet, we learn that their goddess of love, named Inanna (who was called Ishtar by the later Babylonians), threatened to go down to the Underworld and smash the doors, saying: 'And all the dead will get out, and they will outnumber the living.' This ancient fear of our species, explicitly documented circa 2500 BC but really extending throughout the entire history of mankind, is explored in this strange and eerie French film, which has now inspired a popular French television series of the same original title and theme. This film is entitled in French LES REVENANTS, which means THE RETURNED, and that is the title used now on the DVD release with English subtitles, though the cinema release with subtitles a few years ago was as THEY CAME BACK, a title which has now been abandoned, so that the continuity may be clear to purchasers that this is the basis of the TV series, which is making a hit. Essentially, this is a film about zombies, but it is not at all a horror film, and none of them stagger around making gormless noises and bashing people. Nor are they comical, in the hysterically funny mode of SHAUN OF THE DEAD with Simon Pegg (2004, see my review), which by strange coincidence came out in the same year as this film, for this film portrays zombies very seriously and thoughtfully, and is as far from being a comedy as you can get. The study of the 'returned dead' is extremely sophisticated. One day, without explanation, large numbers of recently dead people are seen walking from the cemetery back into a provincial French town. They are all physically fit but rather dazed and uncommunicative. In this town alone, 13,000 of them suddenly appear, having left their graves. They are not at all threatening, but are quiet and reserved and, somewhat ominously, all seem to have an understanding with one another. We are told that millions of 'returned dead' have appeared all over France, and some satire creeps into the film here, because meetings are held in which various politically correct people insist that the human rights of these dead people must be respected, they must all have their old jobs back, and their pensions must be reinstated. Most of them are elderly, but there are a few younger ones and children. Extensive bureaucracy then grinds into slow motion, as the returnees are identified and kept in a compound, sleeping on bunks before being reunited with their families. But then it is noticed that they are not sleeping, but merely pretending to sleep. It is also noticed that their body temperatures are all five degrees lower than normal. They are hyper-active and begin to have secret meetings at night while 'living humans' are asleep. They become increasingly restless and seem continually to want to flee, but it is not clear to where they wish to flee. They have mostly lost their memories, which come back to them slowly, although they are perfectly capable of speaking fluently when they need to, and of carrying out any daily tasks. They remember where they used to live and recognise their family members. But they appear to be incapable of relating to any living person emotionally, or having any feelings. Hence, there are no tearful reunions and desperate huggings. They are distant, and the living humans are made very uncomfortable by their presence, so that many people refuse to see the returned dead whom they had once loved. This is a very strange film indeed, very much under-stated, and hence all the more effective for that reason. This wonderfully evocative and mysterious film was the first film directed by Robin Campillo, and it was an impressive debut, done with great skill. He has just completed his second film, EASTERN BOYS (2013), which is apparently not yet released. Campillo also wrote this film, jointly with Brigitte Tijou. It is no wonder that this provocative and disturbing examination of one of our deepest fears has inspired a television series, for it is easy to think of endless episodes in which further and further layers of mystery are peeled away from this nearly inexhaustible subject. After all, the subject of zombies is never really dead, even though they themselves are.

I liked this movie. It had a dreamy, parable-like quality to it that reminded me of films like Man Facing Southeast (1986) and The Rapture (1991). The focus is not really on the plot, so if you are annoyed with movies that don't explain a lot of the action, this is probably not the movie for you. Some would probably find it a little pretentious too; personally, it was well within my own threshold.

The cinematography is really good throughout, and the acting is well-done. The director is very successful in evoking a strange, off-kilter feeling, which predominates and occasionally escalates into eeriness and even a little dread. The newly returned dead are enigmas to their living relations and the audience both.

I felt somewhat let down by the ending, but not as much as I would have thought if I'd known the plot of the movie beforehand. Although some things in the movie (mostly plot elements) were not resolved to my satisfaction, I did feel like the character development was complete by the end. That focus is fairly typical of the movie as a whole.

I liked this film, but potential genre viewers beware, this is a subtitled French film, but since I enjoy both horror films and art house movies I had little problem with its leisurely pacing. Some reviewers have commented on a lack of horror, this is true, but there are plenty of unsettling scenes and the film has a genuine sense of unease hanging over it. It takes place in a high-rise suburb of the Ile-de-France, a region of Paris. There is something of a J.G. Ballard-like feel of dislocation to the urban surroundings that matches the inability of the returned dead to fit in with the lives of their previously grieving loved ones. Similarly, as in the short story The Monkey's Paw, it is perhaps better not to have your loved ones return from the dead because they may not be quite as you'd like them to be.

It's a fascinating premise and goes to show how the zombie genre can be tweaked in to interesting new shapes. However, writer and first time director Robin Compillo does not explore the full socio-economic possibilities of the situation, let alone the potential for horror. He instead considers some of the emotional implications involved in regard to loss and wish fulfilment in relation to the returned loved ones. It might be hoped that They Came Back could kick start a new direction in the zombie genre, as a global phenomenon there are thousands of potential scenarios. However, it is unlikely this modest and thoughtful little chiller (imagine M.Night Shyamalan when he was modest and thoughtful) will have the same impact as Night of the Living Dead.

After I realized this movie is not a horror or a trash one, just because it has zombies in its plot I thought it has a great creative mind behind the story; however, when the movie ended I felt there was something missing in the story. The movie does not care much about explaining its core issue that is about the coming of the dead people themselves. Why did they return to live if all they want is to go to the tunnels? It does not say where the tunnels will lead them. To heaven or to hell? to the Elygian fields? to Mars? or to some new dimension? I would not bother if the movie was longer just to explain this part carefully. If so,the movie would be brilliant. Unfortunately it is not a brilliant movie. It is only good to make us think about the crazy hypothesis that the movie is talking about, which is, at least, interesting. My note is to say that according to my own interpretations, the movie never tries to sound funny as some other critics say, but tragic and hypothetical. People are never prepared to welcome their dead relatives with eager if they knock at their door after some years of "absence", even if you love them so much.