After a subway encounter with a casual acquaintance, Alphonse Tram begins to head home. While leaving the subway he discovers the acquaintance murdered, with Alphonse's knife piercing his belly. Having no recollection of the events Alphonse reports the crime to his neighbor, a police inspector. The inspector has no interest in this crime, stating he is not on duty. A night passes and Alphonse learns that his wife has been murdered. With her hapless murderer showing up at Alphonse's door to confess, neither Alphonse or the Inspector seeming to care in the slightest. This is a major commentary throughout the film, as nearly every character lacks compassion when it comes to loss, showing no emotional effect even when people close to them are murdered. These three individuals steal each others woman, bicker amongst themselves all over Paris in this strange black comedy disguised as a crime thriller. Bertrand Blier's Cold Cuts is an incredibly absurd black comedy that looks at the dehumanizing effect modern urban life has on the individual. Blier argues that this inorganic urban world has created a home that is unnatural for humans, dehumanizing us to point of insanity where one acts out in violent ways in an effort to feel connected to someone. This isn't done in a highbrow way, not even close, rather Cold Cuts is a incredibly silly comedic farce. Blier's visual design fits the theme of the film well, using lots of wide lens photography to comment on this dehumanization and void of compassion that has consumed these three individuals. While the film has a lot to enjoy it did come off a little too schizophrenic for its own good, losing me at times to its almost directionless narrative. Obviously directionless narratives can be fantastically orchestrated but Cold Cuts had a few moments that seemed to verge too far away from its central ideas and themes. 7.5/10
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
|