MIFF 2012 - Day 12

Only one film today, though I did see Dead Europe (which will be screening at MIFF on Sunday night) at a separate preview. A grimy ghost story, worth a look when it comes out in November.

Carre Blanc

A very weird science fiction film about the brutalities of corporate culture and their effect on modern life. Phillipe was a troubled kid, his mother killed herself after telling him he needed to be tougher to survive in life. Then he tried to kill himself but was saved by Marie, who years later he married. But they can't have children and it drives her mad. But the elliptical story only touches on these points momentarily, focusing instead on the bizarre tests Phillipe puts his employees through. They're the sort of lateral thinking games you played in primary school, amped up and sprinkled with violence. There's always a simple way out, you just need to think outside the square. But no one ever does, because they obey rather than think, or attack rather than co-operate. Beyond a simple message that playing the game makes you complicit in its horrors, there's not a lot to take away from the film. But it's beautifully shot and the way the strange culture is presented is quite compelling.