Titane
Titane is a French arthouse film directed by Julia Ducournau. Winning the Palme d'Or at Cannes, Neon distributing for the US, and the headlines from journalists created a must see type of hype. Being a fan of Gaspar Noe, Yorgos Lanthimos, Michael Haneke, and Lars von Trier, I couldn't wait to see Titane in the theater.
Titane is about Alexia (Agathe Rousselle), who at eight years old gets a titanium plate put into her head due to injuries from a car crash. Now years later as a young adult she is a sexed up punker showgirl who dances at car shows. Having a sexual fetish for metal and cars she has sex with a muscle car after a performance and somehow becomes pregnant. Later we learn she is also a serial killer, and when one victim gets away she ends up on the run. Wanted, with a police sketch of her face out to the public, her escape is to assume the identity of a boy, Adrien, who has been missing since he was seven years old, and would now be seventeen. Adrien's father, Vincent (Vincent Lindon), arrives to the police station to take "Adrien" home to start over as a family again.
Going into this I wasn't sure how Julia was going to put together these two disparate pieces into one film: the chaotic violent energy of Alexia as the serial killer to crossover into her assuming the identity of a male seventeen year old. I was impressed by how it flowed flawlessly together. A lot of people are saying how shocking the film is as if to get hits for their articles or to sensationalize scenes. Or perhaps they were genuinely shocked and are simply trying to warn people. Yes, there are scenes that are shocking and some moments are violent and get under your skin. But it is not sensationalized or for shock value, but to serve the reality of Alexia's mental state. Being a psychopath she is disconnected from herself and everyone around her that creates a numbness. But at the same time I would argue there is a lot of self-hate within her and rage.
At the beginning of the film Alexia already has a connection and fascination with the power of the car her father is driving. Post surgery with the titanium plate in her head she becomes one with her love for the metal and cars by kissing the car and ignoring her family. The sexual kink for cars / metal creates a sense of power and dominance for her over the patriarchy, gender norms, her life. Alexia is in control, but at the same time out of control due to the massive hole she has inside of her.
Vincent is dead on the inside from losing not only his son, but the identity he had within that. When he sees Alexia posing as his son for the first time he doesn't legitimately believe it, but the desperation to fill that need, to love and care for a child, has to be filled at all costs so he goes with the delusion.
At the center of the film is love. Despite Alexia's transgressions she still deserves love and to be seen. Due to the influence of Vincent, Alexia / Adrien see the world through his eyes which begins to humanize her on one level. But also physically transforms her body, and over the course of the film breaks it down into something else in order to give birth to love and hope. Representing despite the horror of the world love can come out of that and the resilience of the human spirit can still win. The body horror aspects are speaking to some degree that pregnancy is a transformative ultimate sacrifice that can be experienced as horrifying and painful. Versus popular culture shoving down our throats that it always has to be felt as a beautiful experience. Julia showcases the complexities of psychopathy that we rarely see in TV or films, and the capacity some have for love and genuine relationships since psychopathy is on a spectrum.
The problem I had with this movie is not agreeing that she is deserving of unconditional love by Vincent when she is a serial killer. Two hours wasn't enough time for me to believe in her redemption. Instead of solely actions I needed more dialogue to make that internal journey too. A TV series would have been better to let the story breathe towards redemption and love.
Titane is now playing in theaters.