Claire Denis
CLAIRE DENIS
26 July – 30 August 2013
Free Admission
Highly acclaimed film director Claire Denis is regarded as one of France’s most distinctive and humanist filmmakers. Denis spent her formative years living in French colonial Africa in various locations across what is today Burkina Faso, Senegal, Djibouti and Cameroon. Her films approach subjects of cultural and political tension, as well as individual alienation. They are united by a sensuous approach to characters and story development. In her early career she worked alongside filmmakers that included Costa Gavras, Jacques Rivette, Jim Jarmusch and Wim Wenders. The Gallery’s Australian Cinémathèque will present an in-depth retrospective, including Claire Denis’ documentaries and short films. This will constitute the most comprehensive exploration of her work to date in Australia.
I have always made films with desire. I think it is the primary material of my films.
Claire Denis
Chocolat 1988 M
Fri 26 Jul 6.00pm and Wed 31 Jul 8.00pm / Cinema A
35MM, COLOUR, STEREO, 105 MINUTES, FRANCE/WEST GERMANY/CAMEROON, FRENCH/ENGLISH (ENGLISH SUBTITLES) / DIRECTOR: CLAIRE DENIS / PRODUCER: ALAIN BELMONDO, GÉRARD CROSNEIR / SCRIPT: CLAIRE DENIS, JEAN-POL FARGEAU / CINEMATOGRAPHER: ROBERT ALAZRAKI / EDITORS: MONICA COLEMAN, CLAUDINE MERLIN, SYLVIE QUESTER / CAST: FRANÇOIS CLUZET, ISAACH DE BANKOLÉ, GIULIA BOSCHI / PRODUCTION COMPANIES: CINÉMANUEL, MK2 PRODUCTIONS, CÉRITO FILMS, CAROLINE PRODUCTIONS, LA SEPT, TF1 FILMS PRODUCTION, WIM WENDERS PRODUCTIONS / PRINT SOURCE/RIGHTS: MK2
'In her first film, Denis re-created two lost worlds: colonial Cameroon in the 1950s, and the familiar yet foreign territory of childhood. Framed as the recollections of a grown woman, Chocolat draws on the director's own early years, and it has all the sensory acuity and strangeness of memory. The pointofview character, pointedly named France, is the daughter of a colonial officer at a remote outpost; her closest companion is Protée (Isaach de Bankolé), the household's black "boy", who serves not only as helper and protector, but also as a vector for the white characters' various desires and delusions . . . The ending executes a graceful shift in perspective, reminding us that France is not the centre of the universe.' Juliet Clark, Pacific Film Archive
'While filming Chocolat, Denis met Les Têtes Bruleès, a group of Cameroonian musicians who were superstars in their home country. When they embarked on their first ever tour of France in 1987, Denis was there to document their encounters and reactions to French culture.' Mark Cosgrove, Watershed Bristol
Jacques Rivette, Le Veilleur (Jacques Rivette, The Watchman) 1990 Ages 18+
Sat 10 Aug 3.00pm / Cinema A
VIDEO, BLACK AND WHITE AND COLOUR, STEREO, 125 MINUTES, FRANCE, FRENCH (ENGLISH SUBTITLES) / DIRECTORS: CLAIRE DENIS, SERGE DANEY / PRODUCERS: JANINE BAZIN, ANDRÉ S. LABARTHE / CINEMATOGRAPHER: AGNÈS GODARD / EDITOR: DOMINIQUE AUVRAY / PRODUCTION COMPANIES: LA SEPT, ART PRODUCTION / PRINT SOURCE/RIGHTS: L’INSTITUT FRANÇAIS
‘For the average cinephile with a particular penchant for the artefacts of French cinema culture, Jacques Rivette, Le Veilleur is a dense hub of filmic nonpareils: in a single film, we are joined by the figures of [celebrated critic and former editor of Cahiers du cinéma] Serge Daney, Claire Denis, Agnès Godard and Jacques Rivette, not to mention the appearances in film clips of Juliet Berto, Bulle Ogier and Jean-Francois Stévenin. Yet alluring as the total sum of these figures are, the film’s singular value rests primarily on its bringing together of two exceedingly important French film personalities, Daney and Rivette.’ Paul Grant, Senses of Cinema
S'en Fout La Mort (No Fear, No Die) 1990 Ages 18+
Fri 26 Jul 8.00pm and Wed 31 Jul 6.00pm (with For Ushari Ahmed Mahmoud 1991) / Cinema A
35MM, COLOUR, STEREO, 90 MINUTES, FRANCE/WEST GERMANY, FRENCH (ENGLISH SUBTITLES) / DIRECTOR: CLAIRE DENIS / PRODUCERS: FRANCIS BOESPFLUG, PHILIPPE CARCASSONNE / SCRIPT: CLAIRE DENIS, JEAN-POL FARGEAU / CINEMATOGRAPHER: PASCAL MARTI / EDITOR: DOMINIQUE AUVRAY / CAST: ISAACH DE BANKOLÉ, ALEX DESCAS, SOLVEIG DOMMARTIN / PRODUCTION COMPANIES: CINÉA, NEF DIFFUSION / PRINT SOURCE/RIGHTS: L’INSTITUT FRANÇAIS
'In sharp contrast to the lush, exquisitely composed Chocolat, Denis's second feature uses its rough-edge handheld camera to explore the claustrophobic and fraught world of two black immigrant friends who raise fighting cocks in a gritty Parisian suburb. A precursor to Beau Travail's study of uneasy male camaraderie, No Fear, No Die carefully observes the subtly shifting dynamic between the two men — wonderfully played by Alex Descas and Isaach de Bankolé — and the rituals and cruelties that define their world.' Harvard Film Archive
For Ushari Ahmed Mahmoud 1991 Ages 18+
Fri 26 Jul 8.00pm and Wed 31 Jul 6.00pm (with No Fear, No Die 1990) / Cinema A
35MM, COLOUR, MONO, 4 MINUTES, FRANCE, FRENCH (ENGLISH SUBTITLES) SEGMENT DIRECTED BY CLAIRE DENIS FOR THE OMNIBUS FILM CONTRE L’OUBLI (AGAINST OBLIVION) / DIRECTOR: CLAIRE DENIS / PRINT SOURCE/RIGHTS: L’INSTITUT FRANÇAIS
'Denis's contribution to a film dedicated to political prisoners is a haunting "music video" juxtaposing a melancholy Alain Souchon song about the loneliness and powerlessness of the immigrant with footage of two African men walking the streets of Belleville in Paris.' Harvard Film Archive
J'aI Pas Sommeil (I Can't Sleep) 1994 Ages 18+
Fri 2 Aug 8.15pm and Wed 7 Aug 6.00pm / Cinema A
35MM, COLOUR, DOLBY, 110 MINUTES, FRANCE/SWITZERLAND/GERMANY, FRENCH (WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES) / DIRECTOR: CLAIRE DENIS / PRODUCER: BRUNO PÉSERY / SCRIPT: JEAN-POL FARGEAU, CLAIRE DENIS / CINEMATOGRAPHER: AGNÈS GODARD / EDITOR: NELLY QUETTIER / CAST: YEKATERINA GOLUBEVA, RICHARD COURCET, VINCENT DUPONT / PRODUCTION COMPANIES: ARÉNA FILMS, FRANCE 3 CINÉMA, M6, CANAL+, ORSANS, LES PRODUCTIONS AGORA, VEGA FILMS / PRINT SOURCE/RIGHTS: PYRAMIDE INTERNATIONAL
'Denis's mid-career masterpiece is based on the shocking true story of Thierry Paulin, a gay, black, HIV-positive drug dealer, transvestite and serial killer, who preyed on elderly Parisian women during the mid 1980s. The mysterious, sensitive — but appropriately troubling — exploration of Paulin's crimes offered by I Can't Sleep is worlds away from such a sensationalistic description of the facts. By refracting the story through the point of view of a young Lithuanian woman, an illegal immigrant struggling to make ends meet, Denis instead offers an offbeat vision of the modern world as a fragile community of outsiders.' Harvard Film Archive
U.S. Go Home 1994 Ages 18+
Fri 23 Aug 6.00pm (with Keep It For Yourself 1991) / Cinema A
35MM, COLOUR, DOLBY SR, 58 MINUTES, FRANCE, FRENCH (WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES) / DIRECTOR: CLAIRE DENIS / PRODUCERS: YANNICK CASANOVA, ELISABETH DEVIOSSE, FRANÇOISE GUGLIELMI / SCRIPT: CLAIRE DENIS, ANNE WIAZEMSKY / CINEMATOGRAPHER: AGNÈS GODARD / EDITOR: DOMINIQUE AUVRAY / CAST: ALICE HOURI, JESSICA THARAUD, GRÉGOIRE COLIN, MARTINE GAUTIER / PRODUCTION COMPANIES: IMA PRODUCTIONS, SOCIÉTÉ FRANÇAISE DE PRODUCTION (SFP)
‘U.S. Go Home is the great unseen Claire Denis film and is Denis's contribution to Tous les garcons et les filles de leur age [All the boys and girls of their age] — a remarkable French television commission that invited nine different directors, including Olivier Assayas and André Techiné, to reflect upon their adolescence and the music that was important to them . . . Inspired by the culture shock of Denis's return from Africa to the Parisian outskirts, U.S. Go Home uses the story of two young girls' reluctant visit to a dance party to explore the fugitive chemistry of social and sexual relationships.’ Harvard Film Archive
'A conversation with Claire Denis, filmed in close-up. She talks about her films, her career, the directors she admires — such as Renoir and Ozu — the writings of Frantz Fanon, mentor of decolonisation, and her convictions in regard to light, sound, montage, tracking shots, and the role of dialogue, which is subordinate to image in her films.' Berlin Arsenal
Nénette et Boni (Nenette and Boni) 1996 Ages 18+
Fri 2 Aug 6.00pm and Wed 7 Aug 8.00pm / Cinema A
16MM, COLOUR, STEREO, 103 MINUTES, FRANCE, FRENCH (ENGLISH SUBTITLES) / DIRECTOR: CLAIRE DENIS / PRODUCER: GEORGES BENAYOUN / SCRIPT: CLAIRE DENIS, JEAN-POL FARGEAU / CINEMATOGRAPHER: AGNÈS GODARD / EDITOR: YANN DEDET / CAST: GRÉGOIRE COLIN, ALICE HOURI, JACQUES NOLOT / PRODUCTION COMPANIES: CANAL+, CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA CINÉMATOGRAPHIE, DACIA FILMS, IMA PRODUCTIONS, LA SEPT CINÉMA / PRINT SOURCE/RIGHTS: PYRAMIDE INTERNATIONAL
'Boni (Grégoire Colin) is reunited with his estranged and pregnant younger sister, Nénette (Alice Houri) . . . Amidst the background of their mother's suicide and father's estrangement, the siblings create a complex alliance, based on mutual needs for love and tenderness. Boni's teeming desire for the local baker's wife and his lurid descriptions of sexual fantasies in his diary reveal a desire to love and be loved, which Nénette's unwanted child can potentially fulfil.' Samantha Dinning, Senses of Cinema
Beau Travail 1999 M
Fri 9 Aug 6.00pm and Wed 14 Aug 8.00pm / Cinema A
35MM, COLOUR, DOLBY DIGITAL, 90 MINUTES, FRANCE, FRENCH/ITALIAN/RUSSIAN (ENGLISH SUBTITLES) / DIRECTOR: CLAIRE DENIS / PRODUCER: PATRICK GRANDPERRET / SCRIPT: CLAIRE DENIS, JEAN-POL FARGEAU / INSPIRED BY THE STORY “BILLY BUDD, SAILOR” BY HERMAN MELVILLE / CINEMATOGRAPHER: AGNÈS GODARD / EDITOR: NELLY QUETTIER / CAST: DENIS LAVANT, MICHEL SUBOR, GRÉGOIRE COLIN / PRODUCTION COMPANIES: LA SEPT-ARTE, S.M. FILMS, TANAÏS PRODUCTIONS / PRINT SOURCE/RIGHTS: L’INSTITUT FRANÇAIS
'Denis and her near-constant collaborator, screenwriter Jean-Pol Fargeau, reimagine Melville's Billy Budd as a tale of jealousy and homoerotic desire amongst a company of French Legionnaires in remote Djibouti. The beautiful sparseness and enigmatic quality of Beau Travail is informed by Denis's interest in contemporary choreography and her careful attention to the Legionnaires' training and exercise, rituals that suggest both the cohesion of, and the unspoken tensions within, the unit. In a film of few words, the soldiers' sculptural bodies become expressive markers of the ways in which belonging, tenderness and violence trouble contemporary masculinity.' Harvard Film Archive
Trouble Every Day 2001 Ages 18+
Fri 9 Aug 8.00pm and Wed 14 Aug 6.00pm / Cinema A
35MM, COLOUR, DOLBY DIGITAL, 101 MINUTES, FRANCE/GERMANY/JAPAN, ENGLISH/FRENCH (ENGLISH SUBTITLES) / DIRECTOR: CLAIRE DENIS / PRODUCERS: GEORGES BENAYOUN, PHILIPPE LIÉGEOIS, JEAN-MICHEL REY / SCRIPT: CLAIRE DENIS, JEAN-POL FARGEAU / CINEMATOGRAPHER: ANGÈS GODARD / EDITOR: NELLY QUETTIER / CAST: VINCENT GALLO, TRICIA VESSEY, BÉATRICE DALLE, ALEX DESCAS / PRODUCTION COMPANIES: MESSAOUNDA FILMS, REZO PRODUCTIONS, ARTE FRANCE CINÉMA, DACIA FILMS, KINÉTIQUE INC. / PRINT SOURCE/RIGHTS: L’INSTITUT FRANÇAIS
'A hard-hitting melange of science fiction, body horror and AIDS allegory, Trouble Every Day is perhaps Denis's most under-appreciated work. Although the film's apparent coldness and glimpses of carnal savagery immediately marked it as a controversial aberration in Denis's oeuvre, Trouble Every Day is best understood as an important, albeit darker, variation of the restless, lonely searching for connection between people that remains the central theme of Denis's work. While the film centres on the relationship between an American and French vampire, Denis's real interest is not in the trappings of genre, whether mad doctor imaginings or bloodshed, but in the limits of love, sex and forgiveness.' Harvard Film Archive
Vendredi Soir (Friday Night) 2002 Ages 18+
Fri 16 Aug 6.00pm and Wed 21 Aug 8.15pm
35MM, COLOUR, DOLBY DIGITAL, 90 MINUTES, FRANCE, FRENCH / DIRECTOR: CLAIRE DENIS / PRODUCER: BRUNO PÉSERY / SCRIPT: CLAIRE DENIS, EMMANUÈLE BERNHEIM / BASED ON THE NOVEL ‘FRIDAY NIGHT’ BY EMMANUÈLE BERNHEIM / CINEMATOGRAPHER: AGNÈS GODARD / EDITOR: NELLY QUETTIER / CAST: VALÉRIE LEMERCIER, VINCENT LINDON / PRODUCTION COMPANIES: ARÉNA FILMS PARIS, FRANCE 2 CINÉMA, FRANCE TÉLÉVISION IMAGES / PRINT SOURCE/RIGHTS: TAMASA
Adapted from a novel by Emmanuèle Bernheim, Friday Night follows the night-long erotic dance between Laure (Valérie Lemercier) and hitchhiker Jean (Vincent Lindon), who she picks up in a Paris traffic jam. A choreography of bodies, gestures and looks is captured by Agnès Godard’s camera, creating a languorous and enigmatic atmosphere. Elements of magic realism underline the departure from everyday routines that the city jam offers, opening a sensual space of encounter and anonymity.
L'intrus (The Intruder) 2004 Ages 18+
Fri 16 Aug 8.00pm and Wed 21 Aug 6.00pm / Cinema A
35MM, COLOUR, DOLBY DIGITAL, 130 MINUTES, FRANCE, FRENCH (ENGLISH SUBTITLES) / DIRECTOR: CLAIRE DENIS / PRODUCERS: HUMBERT BALSAN, JÉRÔME CLÉMENT / SCRIPT: CLAIRE DENIS, JEAN-POL FARGEAU / BASED ON THE NOVEL ‘THE INTRUDER’ BY JEAN-LUC NANCY / CINEMATOGRAPHER: AGNÈS GODARD / EDITOR: NELLY QUETTIER / CAST: MICHEL SUBOR, BÉATRICE DALLE / PRODUCTION COMPANY: OGNON PICTURES / PRINT SOURCE/RIGHTS: L’INSTITUT FRANÇAIS
‘L’intrus, which was nominated for a Golden Lion at the 2004 Venice Film Festival, was inspired by French philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy’s text of the same name. Nancy’s autobiographical account of a heart transplant explores the notion of grafting, intrusion and the paradoxes of identity. Denis relates these themes in L’intrus, through her portrayal of Louis Trebor (Michel Subor) and his quest to locate his son and a replacement for his failing heart. Themes of transplantation, assimilation, rejection and identity expound into broader cultural and social themes beyond the medical heart transplant, to once again examine the themes of difference and otherness.’ Samantha Dinning, Senses of Cinema
Vers Mathilde (Towards Mathilde) 2005 Ages 18+
Sat 17 Aug 3.00pm / Cinema A
16MM/8MM, COLOUR, DOLBY, 84 MINUTES, FRANCE, FRENCH (ENGLISH SUBTITLES) / DIRECTOR: CLAIRE DENIS / PRODUCER: PASCAL CAUCHETEUX / CINEMATOGRAPHERS: AGNÉS GODARD, HÉLÈNE LOUVART / EDITOR: ANNE SOURIAU / PRODUCTION COMPANY: CELLULOID DREAMS / PRINT SOURCE/RIGHTS: L’INSTITUT FRANÇAIS / SCREENING FORMAT: DIGITAL VIDEO
‘Vers Mathilde suggests that the more experimental, conceptual side of Claire Denis's character may eventually find its true metier in the documentary format. . . This portrait of French dancer and choreographer Mathilde Monnier is an intelligent inquiry into the dynamics of dance, and the way that a contemporary dance piece evolves from conception to realisation.’ Screen Daily
35 Rhums (35 Shots of Rum) 2008 Ages 18+
Wed 28 Aug 8.00pm and Fri 30 Aug 6.00pm / Cinema A
35MM, COLOUR, DOLBY DIGITAL, 100 MINUTES, FRANCE/GERMANY, FRENCH/GERMAN (ENGLISH SUBTITLES) / DIRECTOR: CLAIRE DENIS / PRODUCERS: KARL BAUMGARTNER, BRUNO PÉSERY / SCRIPT: CLAIRE DENIS, JEAN-POL FARGEAU / CINEMATOGRAPHER: AGNÈS GODARD / EDITOR: GUY LECORNE / CAST: MATI DIOP, ALEX DESCAS, GRÉGOIRE COLIN, NICOLE DOGUE / PRODUCTION COMPANY: SOUDAINE COMPAGNIE / PRINT SOURCE/RIGHTS: L’INSTITUT FRANÇAIS
'Lionel (Alex Descas), a train engineer, shares an apartment with his daughter Jo (Mati Diop), a university student. In the same building live a taxi driver (Nicole Dogué) and a young man who comes and goes (Grégoire Colin). Together, they are a kind of family. We figure out their roles and relationships only gradually as Denis leaves crumbs for us to follow on a narrative path, and that is one of the pleasures of this extraordinarily pleasurable film made up of small moments, of looks and silences, of physicality and pensiveness.' Judy Bloch, Pacific Film Archive
White Material 2009 MA15+
Wed 28 Aug 6.00pm and Fri 30 Aug 8.00pm / Cinema A
35MM, COLOUR, DOLBY DIGITAL, 106 MINUTES, FRANCE/CAMEROON, FRENCH (ENGLISH SUBTITLES) / DIRECTOR: CLAIRE DENIS / PRODUCER: PASCAL CAUCHETEUX / SCRIPT: CLAIRE DENIS, MARIE N’DIAYE / CINEMATOGRAPHER: YVES CAPE / EDITOR: GUY LECORNE / CAST: ISABELLE HUPPERT, CHRISTOPHE LAMBERT / PRODUCTION COMPANIES: WHY NOT PRODUCTIONS, WILD BUNCH, FRENCH 3 CINÉMA / RIGHTS: WHY NOT PRODUCTIONS, WILD BUNCH, FRENCH 3 CINÉMA / PRINT SOURCE/RIGHTS: AZTEC INTERNATIONAL ENTERTAINMENT
'White Material features a protagonist who is as formidable and complex as any the filmmaker has yet put onscreen. Brought to life by Isabelle Huppert, Denis's Maria Vial is a passionate believer in her family's heritage — a coffee plantation in an unnamed African country. She's a wildly stubborn, irrational woman, refusing to leave the country as armed conflict between rebels and the army escalates; the rebels have no great affection for the country's French-colonial contingent, and the army's feelings are no warmer. As tensions go from bad to worse, Maria is faced with the sobering consequences of her decision to remain at her family's plantation.' Zachary Wigon, Filmmaker Magazine
