Left Bank is a slow burning, intelligent, brooding movie. Its a thoughtful, beautiful looking, atmospheric film that is eerily intriguing from beginning to end (strange as the majority of the film is spent developing character relationships and nothing else). Director Pieter Van Hees has clearly been inspired by the work of Roman Polanski, but uses this influence in surprisingly effective ways. The film has been compared to the likes of Rosemarie’s Baby and The Wickerman – both very bold claims, but at the same time justifiably accurate. As with these two classics of the genre, Left Bank spends a lot of time establishing its central character, and then throws said character into a mystery with horrifying results.
Plenty of time is spent developing the relationship between Marie and Bobby, and then equal care and attention is spent tearing it all back down as Marie becomes more and more suspicious of her new boyfriend and a historic mystery surrounding his apartment complex.
Its quite remarkable that Left Bank is Van Hees’ directorial debut. Thematically it has all the precision and style of a movie veteran. As well as the likes of Polanski, similarities can clearly be drawn with the likes of Lars Von Treer’s antichrist in terms of the eerily bleak cinematography and subtle symbolism. There are also hints of early David Cronenberg as a slow burning, but highly effective, amount of body horror starts to develop on a wound on Marie’s leg. Its the body horror that reminds us throughout that we’re actually watching a horror movie. It isn’t until the final act that things pick up and the slow build up of tension gets the conclusion that it very much deserves.
Herein lays Left Banks drawback – for a horror movie there isn’t much horror taking place. Its a beautifully tied together story with a truly effective underlay of tension and eerie atmosphere, but until the final scenes you wouldn’t necessarily link this with horror unless having prior knowledge coming into the film. Genre fans may be disappointed for the most part with the lack of scares, but should be reassured in the knowledge that the build up of atmosphere is next to perfect.
Eline Kuppens portrayal of Marie is particularly noteworthy. She provides us with a fully rounded, three-dimensional character – not yours average scream queen and a breath of fresh air from typical female horror portrayals.
OVERALL SUMMARY
This is very good cinema. The actors are convincing. The plot is well sculptured. The soundtrack adds to the convincingly bleak atmosphere. It looks great and the acting and direction is first-rate, but the story moves along so slowly, with only subtle hints of anything frightening, that you actually forget you’re watching a horror movie. The pace does eventually pick up in the second half, though, and it becomes a genuinely intriguing occult mystery. Pacing issues aside, Left Bank marks Van Hees as a major talent to watch for in the future.
