High Life réal. by Claire Denis (review)

Preceded by months of hype, Denis's first film to star a Hollywood powerhouse made its world premiere at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival, where Moonlight director Barry Jenkins presented Denis as the "world's greatest working filmmaker." Overwhelmingly positive reviews ensued, the word "masterpiece" not uncommon among them. Nevertheless, the film provoked scads of walkouts. Though audible booing was not reported, some vomiting and fainting was, inviting comparisons to the controversial Cannes premiere of Trouble Every Day (2001), Denis's erotic horror film about a science experiment gone wrong, resulting in humans who cannot desire the flesh without having to devour it. The walkouts, however, did not deter A24—the hottest brand in edgy indie distribution ever—from immediately acquiring it. Circa 2012, the NYC-based company quickly built street cred with 20– to 30– somethings even before backing Jenkins's 2016 Oscar-winning Moonlight and Greta Gerwig's 2017 Oscar-nominated Lady Bird. Like Jenkins, Gerwig admires Denis, saying Beau Travail (1999) inspired her to direct. White Material (2009) compelled Pattinson to pursue Denis, who required two years' convincing to make him the lead of High Life, opposite Juliette Binoche. For Denis, this has meant a profile boost this side of the Atlantic. Europe's art house queen since her first feature Chocolat (1988) competed at Cannes, Denis has not seen her films, including Chocolat, made accessible for North American viewing, apart from 2011's Criterion Blu-ray/DVD release of White Material. Following A24's theatrical release of High Life, Criterion put out her dark yet sparkly rom-com Un beau soleil intérieur (also starring Binoche). OVID.tv, a new indie streaming service, boasts the maligned Trouble Every Day among its offerings. And A24 released High Life on Blu-Ray and for rent/purchase on iTunes and Amazon. The bad news: nine of Denis's thirteen films have no American distribution. The good news: thanks to A24's audacity, American viewers can re-view High Life, which—to riff on Scorsese's visual literacy essay—you have not really seen until you have seen it again. Requiring a second look, however, is risky for Denis, whose films can be hard to watch even once for reasons both general (the always slow-paced, non-linear narrative) and particular (the merciless warping of certain popular genres). Thus, High Life is Denis's first sci-fi (well, sort of) and first in English (a sort of English, anyway). Basically unfolding in flashback, I will risk no spoilers, except to say the space crew is unlike any you have ever seen. Scenes of Pattinson as Monty with his baby Willow are among the most beautiful involving an infant in cinema history, the slow, graphic violence offends any viewer's comfort zone, the (auto)sexual activity is completely bizarre yet strangely beautiful (as per the amazing Binoche), and the film's ending with Monty and adolescent Willow, most disturbing. Yet herein lies Denis's magic: she is an auteur. So while High Life indeed stars the next Batman, it is still a Denis film: not the average filmgoer's cup of tea, but among the best cinema offers today.