Film Review: Black Heaven
Film Review: Black Heaven
French filmmaker Gilles Marchand explores sexual obsession and the dangers of online life in "Black Heaven", released courtesy of IFC Midnight
Screened Out of Competition at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, Gilles Marchand’s technology-laced mystery Black Heaven now makes its US bow courtesy of IFC’s Midnight label. Mixing elements of classic film noir and online alternate realities ala The Matrix and Tron, Black Heaven shows the real world danger and allure of relinquishing one’s identity in the real world and plunging down into the cyber rabbit hole. Opening innocently enough in the French countryside, teenagers Gaspard (Gregoire Leprince-Ringuet) and Marion (Pauline Etienne) discover an abandoned cell phone while strolling down the beach flirtatiously. They playfully answer a call on it and intrigued by the situation, decide to track down the owner themselves.
After some amateur sleuthing, they discover the identity of the phone’s owner Audrey (Louise Bourgoin) and her caller, a mysterious young man going by the handle of ‘Dragon’. The teens follow the pair to an isolated quarry and come upon the young man’s corpse and Audrey barely clinging to life. While there, Gaspard snatches a video camera the duo had setup in their car before the police arrive. After watching the tape, which records an apparent suicide pact between Audrey and Dragon, Gaspard becomes fixated on her and is compelled to investigate further. He soon learns of her involvement in a Second Life-esque online game known as “Black Hole”. Draped in sinister shadows, the game resembles a classic film noir landscape with tinges of sadomasochism as the virtual city explores the seedy underbelly of urban life. Knowing Audrey’s avatar, Sam, is within the game, Gaspard creates his own avatar and explores Black Hole seeking to learn more about this mysteriously seductive blonde and what exactly happened the night he found her in the quarry.
In a secondary plot thread, Gaspard is introduced via his buddies to Vincent (Melvin Poupaud), who is Audrey’s brother and a local gangster. Aware of Audrey’s online obsession, he seeks to prevent Gaspard from learning his sister’s secret and the dark plot it holds. As reality and virtual reality begin collapsing together, Gaspard’s mood and personality grow increasing dark as he is sucked into Black Hole’s allure and risks becoming a victim like Dragon. Not unlike Sion Sono’s creepy online horror film Suicide Club, Black Heaven highlights the allure of losing one’s self in the anonymity of online life, crafting a whole new existence on your own terms but how quickly that freedom can be turned against you.
Marchand and fellow filmmaker/screenwriter Dominik Moll have fashioned a simple, moody thriller that does not bludgeon the viewer with shocks but unfolds slowly and efficiently. The transitions between Black Hole’s shadow world and reality slowly blur as Gaspard descends into an underground of online gaming where players seek to lose themselves to fantasy no matter the cost. Audrey becomes the living symbol of this desire, uncomfortable and anti-social offline, online she blooms into a comfortable and confident avatar sure of the world and her place in it.
From a certain perspective, Black Heaven can be seen as a 21st century update of Blue Velvet, given its focus on obsession and using film noir elements (dark underbelly of society, femme fatale) as guide posts along the journey. In this regard, Louise Bourgoin’s turn as Audrey is perfectly modulated although less meaty than Isabella Rossellini’s Dorothy Valens. Given relatively little backstory, Bourgoin instead relies on her looks and comfortable sexuality to lure Gaspard and the viewer into this online world while exuding a broken doll innocence. Gaspard wants to help her but he desires her as well; this struggle between good and evil is comfortably handled by Ringuet whose fresh face communicates intelligence and innocence while hiding from his baser desires.
His transformation is not nearly as radical as Jeffrey Beaumont’s but it is still believable enough to maintain credibility. While the final plot itself does not entirely hold up to scrutiny and its languorous build-up, it does lead to a credibly climax and wraps the film up in a satisfactory manner. Leaning more on style and mood than sheer substance at times, Black Heaven is nonetheless beautiful to watch, held by an intriguing story and performances that serve the film’s intentions nearly perfectly.
To learn more about this film and screening information, go to www.ifcfilms.com
