2001 Directed by Claire Denis
Scientist Shane Brown neglects his new bride, instead spending their honeymoon searching for an old colleague who disappeared after a research paper he had written was discredited by the medical community. It turns out that Dr. Semeneau is living in obscurity in order to protect his wife, whom he keeps prisoner in a room with boards nailed across the doorway. The narrative unfolds the dark secret that drives each party.
Part of Hoop-Tober
“I want to go home.” “Okay.”
I am not a person who generally remembers his dreams. I must have them, of course. I slip into REM sleep like anyone else. But my dreams, whatever they may be, tend to escape me. Probably just as well. My waking thoughts are enough to deal with as it is.
Occasionally a snippet or two of my slumbering fantasies will remain at daybreak. An image, an isolated moment. Something memorable enough to be remembered—perhaps beautiful, perhaps disturbing, perhaps both—but divorced from context, however surreal or mundane that might have been. It’s frustrating, like finding a puzzle piece with no puzzle; it’s haunting, like a ghost that only stares but doesn’t speak.…
An alternately lyrical and brutal vision of desire as pure lust, with cannibalism envisioned as the end result of tossing off one's inner humanity in favor of animal instinct. But then, isn't that what sex essentially is, in some ways? Not that Claire Denis is puritanical about sex; Trouble Every Day is framed not merely as the typical slasher-movie "sex = death" equation, but more as a blood-and-thunder struggle between thought and feeling, scientific detachment and Romantic passion. Certainly, I can't remember the last time I saw a film that featured a shot as uncanny as one here in which the camera roved along the body of a nude male soon-to-be-victim and somehow conveyed both omniscient clinical analysis and chomping-at-the-bit sexual desire at the same time. As annihilating as that desire might be in Denis's world, the film's own tantalizing/disturbing endpoint suggests that it may also be perversely cathartic as well.
Doom and gloom brooding atmosphere with very little dialogue instead it relies heavily on tantilizing imagery and actors whose screen presence and commanding performances can chill and thrill you without uttering a single word!
It is purposely slow paced! It has a restrained kill count! The film is more about creating a dark atmosphere to set the right tone for a film about people whom have a disease which can be best described as Sexual Cannibals, their urge to cannibalize is triggered by the sex act!
While the kill count is low there are two kill scenes one with Vincent Gallo and the other with Beatrice Dalle that will chill you to the bone! Beatrice Dalle's scene was particularly gruesome!…
Tindersticks provide music that compliment the breathtaking cinematography of Agnès Godard and the atmospheric direction of Claire Denis, making Trouble Every Day what it is, a piece of moving art just waiting to be interpreted.
Besides the stylistic perfection, Vincent Gallo uses his natural creepiness to master the art of being troubled, distraught, desperate and insatiable. This movie suited him so well. And Béatrice Dalle? Everything suits her.
I liked that the vague touch of vampirism was shown in a rather different light. It isn't something to be romanticized, the "vampires" aren't necessarily desirable to the audience and are desirable only for a short while to their victims. They have intense sexual needs which result in visceral desecration, their desires…
deeply regretting the fact i chose to eat spaghetti and meatballs while i watched this :(
Way to perfectly cast Vincent Gallo as a creepy vampire cannibal who eats women alive, Claire Denis! I love how she mostly eschews dialogue and lets grainy cold very European imagery of ancient stone mansions and highway traffic islands and sickly fluorescent airplane bathroom light and laboratory brain dissections create mood and tension. And the way she cuts up bodies so even sexual imagery, like a closeup of kissing an arm or a mouth running over a bare breathing chest, seems disgusting. Brrr!
When I first watched the Digital-Versatile-Disc of Trouble Every Day, it traumatized me so much, I had to pause and take a break before finishing! Denis' conflation of sex and violence feels so unnatural. Like watching someone…
I need a bloody shower after watching Trouble Every Day. Sexy and disturbing. I feel very confused right now but I loved its hypnotic pace.
I think Claire Denis is one of the more interesting contemporary directors working today. I've been going back and seeing her mid career films that I missed (I Can't Sleep, Nennette and Boni, and Trouble Every Day) and I find them more perplexing than her more well known triumphs (Chocolat, Beau Travil, White Material, etc.). Trouble Every Day (2001) is probably the most atypical and perplexing of the films I have seen to date-it is a sort of an art film/horror film hybrid. We are introduced to two couple, the first an American couple, Shane and Jane Brown (Vincent Gallo and Tricai Vessey) on their honeymoon. The other couple is an ostracized doctor, Leo, and his troubled wife, Core (Beatrice…
Way to perfectly cast Vincent Gallo as a creepy vampire cannibal who eats women alive, Claire Denis! I love how she mostly eschews dialogue and lets grainy cold very European imagery of ancient stone mansions and highway traffic islands and sickly fluorescent airplane bathroom light and laboratory brain dissections create mood and tension. And the way she cuts up bodies so even sexual imagery, like a closeup of kissing an arm or a mouth running over a bare breathing chest, seems disgusting. Brrr!
When I first watched the Digital-Versatile-Disc of Trouble Every Day, it traumatized me so much, I had to pause and take a break before finishing! Denis' conflation of sex and violence feels so unnatural. Like watching someone…
- interesting idea. I wonder how much cannibalism exists in the world today.
- I like the way none of the actors speak to each other. things are shown not told. but it does make it hard to follow the plot, if there is one.
- they're looking out the airplane window at night and they see cities lit up at night. and they compared it to looking at microchips!!
- I've always liked Gallo, even when he's not great.
- music by tindersticks.
- this movie is all over the place. some cool shots and scenes, but the second half gets pretty weird even by my standards.
I completely forgot that the Tindersticks did the music for this. Fell for it hook, line, and sinker. Not nearly as gory as I was led to believe, this is an atmospheric trip that would pair perfectly with UNDER THE SKIN.
I wonder how Claire Denis comes up with her shot selections or editing patterns? Based on TROUBLE EVERY DAY I’m guessing some sort of dartboard is involved?
Overall unsettling rating: 5/5
Watching it on the big screen,AND on 35mm, made me appreciate this film much more!
Jon Hillman 1,000 films
The 2018 (4th) edition of the list.
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Recently, I've become aware that certain films are able to transcend the medium by being completely self-assured in their atmospheres…
