Sombre

SOMBRE (1998) **

reviewed 3/14/99

Throughout Sombre, first-time feature film director Philippe Grandrieux shoots through lenses that darken everything. He also utilizes a frenzied handheld camera, lots of jump cuts, and lots of out-of-focus shots. This is supposed to reflect the psychological state of a serial killer (Marc Barbe). While achieving one or two glorious mise-en-scene effects, these techniques eventually grow wearisome. There is after all a reason we don't like to watch films out of focus. As we never get inside the head of the killer, Jean, other than these surface effects, the film has difficulty maintaining interest. Sombre is relatively plotless as it follows Jean on his killing spree of women, mostly prostitutes. Jean has them take off their clothes, then he burrows his head between their spread-open legs, then he strangles them. These scenes are graphic, shot with lots of closeups, though they never quite reach the level of exploitation.

Elina Lowenstein (of several Hal Hartley films) helps a little as the virgin woman Claire, who is strangely attracted to Jean. The film attains some level of interest when a goal temporarily pops up. Jean has tied up Claire's sister in a hotel room after attempting to kill her. He takes Claire out to a dance club, where she gets picked up by two other men, and Claire uses this as an opportunity to save her sister. Shortly after however, Sombre returns to its succession of dispatched nude women. Grandrieux does attain two inspired sequences. One has the camera follow a car winding through a mountain range. The car is always in the mountains' shadows and cannot quite reach the light of the sun overhead. The other is an overhead shot of Jean observing Claire and her sister swimming in a beautiful lake. Grandrieux is obviously not concerned with narrative. Sombre is a mood piece, and the mood is as thoroughly unpleasant as the title indicates.