runamokprods
Compare this with 'Summer Hours' or 'Les Destinees' and you'll see that Olivier Assayas has as wide a range of styles as any current filmmaker I can think of. That said, this surreal, intentionally obtuse story of corporate intrigue centering around world domination of anime porn, makes less and less sense, climaxing with an 'ironic twist' you can see coming from several miles off, and leaving one with the feeling that the film is slightly less intelligent than one might have hoped. On the other hand, It did improve on a second viewing. While the ending still bugged me, the odd, slightly irrational middle felt more in control and intentional, more a comment on it's main character than I caught the first time around.One of those films that can be enjoyed as a high-end, visceral, well made ride, as long as you don't demand perfection or high art.
Mr_Ectoplasma
"Demonlover" focuses on Diane de Monx (Connie Nielsen) who works for a French corporation vying over ownership of a new state-of-the-art 3-dimensional Manga pornography website; matters become complicated, however, when an American company enters the picture, headed by Elaine Si Gibril (Gina Gershon), and Diane's new assistant, Elise (Chloë Sevigny) begins exhibiting unusual behavior. Volf, the company's headmaster, looms over the happenings, trying to romantically entice Diane. As the film progresses, it culminates to a disorienting, violent, and disturbing feud between the companies and their workers.Many people have panned this movie for its unusual style and admittedly disorienting second act (which I am willing to admit is a bit hard to keep up with), but I'm surprised how forthrightly negative people have been toward the film. It is everything but your run-of-the-mill technological thriller, with enough twists, tricks, and peculiar cinematography to please fans of new-age extremist films that seem to be becoming increasingly popular, especially in European countries.Assayas both wrote and directed the film, so one has to hold some respect for his vision, which he crafted from the very start. The film itself is something of an allegorical take on what our world could become in the near future: a place of business - nothing more, nothing less. The characters in the film are shining exhibitions of cold, calculative, emotionally flat shells of humans. Their entire beings revolve around their work and the corporate dealings and status; business, business, business. What is the company's next move? Is Mangatron trying to spoil the deal? What are the legal obstacles? The characters hardly speak of anything else, and the pallid sets and dull colors assist even more in creating a sterile atmosphere for the film.The use of various languages also give a sense of some sort of globalization that is occurring, with persons speaking French, English, and Japanese interchangeably; one of the earlier meetings between Volf's corporation and a fellow Japanese entity in a high-rise Tokyo office is a perfect example of this. Each of the central characters, all of whom are wholly engrossed in their corporate, alter-existence, speak several languages with ease. The barriers between the people are broken down just enough to the point where business can continue, but nothing more. It's hard to even see most of the characters as 'people' because of their subhuman demeanors, seeking control and playing with others are their tools and toys.The characters themselves owe credit to their performers; Nielsen is brilliant in the leading role of Diane, whose life slowly becomes a nightmare after a bit of corporate crawling. Charles Berling is menacing and has the right look for the head honcho corporate man, and Chloë Sevigny is entirely convincing as the mousy assistant who has a bit more going on behind her eyes than one might think. Gina Gershon also brings a bit of life to the film as a loud and talkative American executive who becomes embroiled in the corporate clash with her company which may or may not be involved with a virtual torture site called "The Hellfire Club".Aside from the film's thematics and social commentary, it is also visually delightful. The use of fuzzy closeups and reflection are somewhat reminiscent of a David Lynch movie; in fact, the film as a whole seems to have some Lynchian tinges to it - the alternate existence of the characters, and especially the mind-bending second act of the film all reminded me a bit of "Mulholland Drive" and the like. I'll admit, the last forty minutes or so are especially hard to swallow, but if you're able to get the pill halfway down, chances are it's eventually going to go all the way. It definitely takes some thinking, but it's not a completely incoherent assemblage of an ending.All in all, Assayas' "Demonlover" is one hell of a trip. If you like films in the vein of David Lynch (or perhaps David Cronenberg), chances are you'll find something worthwhile in this odd piece of cinema. The everyday moviegoer will probably be boggled beyond belief, but the film is not the narrative disaster that some people seem to think it is. It holds several meaningful messages (or should I say, warnings) to societies and the world as a whole, as well as delivering interesting cinematography and a cold, cold atmosphere. Especially good acting from Nielsen and Sevigny, as well. I suppose I really have no issues with the film at large; it may take some repeat viewings, though. Some films do. 9/10.
dredyoung
This plot is a mere scaffold for a brilliant and unorthodox 'message movie'. The movie is a commentary on modern merging of violence and sex in animated video porn/games that are melodramatic representations of real life. It illustrates the blurring of reality and fantasy with respect to these sexual, violent, and narcissistic-egoistic aspects of modern life on an international scale. The media- intensified-frustrated-lust of both genders is played out in exaggerated dramas of ruthless domination by males of females and females of males. It also epitomizes the extent to which deception and manipulation has been refined. It illustrates, simultaneously, our lust for exposure of and our need for vicarious experiencing of the privately repressed violence, taboo sexuality, and power lust, which is both engendered by and suppressed by our world cultures. It illustrates how the media in modern cultures increasingly and simultaneously are glamorizing slaughter-heroes of war, vicious superheroes of athletic conflicts, predatory sexual conquistadors, and victorious warlords of economic competition, all of whom relish the goriness with which they vanquish the conquered, while at the same time the same media are amplifying their moralistic condemnation unconventional behavior. Life imitates art in this film when killing up close is bloody personal but there is no legal aftermath with which to contend. Nevertheless, the bloody personal aspect wreaks such an immediate psychological consequence of inner terror that only hell could rival that it catapults one straight back to immersion in the animated demonlover flicks where art imitates our real life fantasy world. It is a pixel-pixilated allegory of modern world culture.
