A wildly original adaptation of a Henry James novella : NPR

Gabrielle and Louis (Léa Seydoux and George MacKay) meet in 1910 in Paris, 2014 in Los Angeles and again in 2044 in The beast.

Carole Bethuel/Kinology

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Carole Bethuel/Kinology

Gabrielle and Louis (Léa Seydoux and George MacKay) meet in 1910 in Paris, 2014 in Los Angeles and again in 2044 in The beast.

Carole Bethuel/Kinology

It’s not easy to summarize the work of the brilliant and infuriating French writer-director Bertrand Bonello. In recent years, he has directed a zombie thriller rooted in Haitian voodoo tradition and an unconventional biopic of Yves Saint-Laurent. His most controversial title, Nocturama, is a relaxing film about a group of young French people carrying out terrorist attacks around Paris. Bonello’s films have a unique way of blurring the intellectual and the aesthetic: their magnificent surfaces are often charged with disturbing and provocative ideas.

His latest film is called The beast, and it’s one of the best, least classifiable things he’s ever done. This is a highly original adaptation of Henry James’ 1903 short story. The beast in the jungleabout a man who lives in a constant state of fear.

James’ story is a warning about the dangers of being too cautious, of not enjoying life and love to the fullest. Bonello takes this premise and spins it in several unexpected directions. First, it transforms the hesitant protagonist into a woman, named Gabrielle, played by the wonderful Léa Seydoux. Then he positions her in three different stories, set in three timelines and infused with elements of horror, mystery, and science fiction. It’s easier to follow than it seems: even if you don’t know exactly where or When we are, Bonello’s cinematography is so hypnotic and Seydoux’s performance so subtly mesmerizing that we can’t help but get carried away with the flow.

The first story is the one that most closely resembles the short story. The year is 1910, and Gabrielle is a renowned pianist who has an altercation in a Parisian salon with a gentleman named Louis, played by English actor George MacKay. In a configuration that evokes the confusing 1961 classic Last year in Marienbad, Gabrielle and Louis seem to vaguely remember having already met. There is an obvious attraction between them, but Gabrielle, who is married, is hesitant to pursue it. His restraint will cost him dearly in a climax which coincides with a real Parisian catastrophe, the Great Flood of 1910.

The second story takes place in Los Angeles in 2014 and presents a strange menace from David Lynch’s masterpiece. Doctor Mulholland. Gabrielle is now an aspiring model and actress who takes care of a wealthy Angeleno. Shaken by a violent earthquake one morning, she goes outside and runs into Louis, who is now a deeply disturbed incel who posts misogynistic videos online.

MacKay is utterly terrifying as this Louis, who is inspired by a man who killed six people in 2014 in Isla Vista, California. What makes this second segment so frightening is that, unlike the short story, the protagonist’s fear is not unfounded. The beast that stalks Gabrielle is all too real.

The third story is the most elusive and intriguing. The action takes place in 2044, when the world is ruled by AI. Gabrielle plays a human who, to join the job market, must follow a process that will rid her of her emotions. This segment, with its nuances of Eternal sunshine of the impeccable mindexplains the setting of the entire film: It turns out that the 1910 and 2014 sections are remnants of Gabrielle’s past lives, now purged from her subconscious.

Bonello doesn’t tell stories one by one; he jumps everywhere and among them. It tracks the sources of human alienation and anxiety through the ages, asking why, in each era, we find ways to disengage from life and the people around us. The film is particularly revealing of the evolution of technology. Each chapter features some kind of artificial human companion: a line of dolls in 1910, a talking doll in 2014, a robot friend in 2044. Along the way, Bonello also poses questions about the future of cinema, a medium so overrun with synthesized images. that it has become more difficult to distinguish what is real from what is not.

As dark as The beast It seems, he is not entirely pessimistic about the state of the world. I left the film disturbed but also captivated and strangely reassured by the presence of Seydoux in the three stories. Futurist Gabrielle may have to strip herself of her feelings, but Seydoux’s emotions are still within her reach. The more unreal his environment becomes, the more human and captivating his performance seems.