The ultra-violent Italian crime pictures of the 60s and 70s for this sweaty, sun-drenched shootout
Date/Time: Nov 17 2017, 9:15 pm to 11:45 pm
Vancouver, The Rio Theatre | Event calendarAge: 19+
Cost: $12.00
Find tickets: here
The Belgian directing team of Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani‘s (THE STRANGE COLOR OF YOUR BODY’S TEARS) latest, Let the Corpses TanN, bring French crime novelist Jean-Patrick Manchette‘s 1971 thriller ‘Laissez bronzer les Cadavres’ to life in a visually stunning, hyper-stylized neo-Western that finds itself basking in the dreamy yet thrilling hues of an over-saturated Mediterranean summer. Think blue sea, blazing sun, and 250 kg of stolen gold whisked off to a remote, quasi-abandoned rendez-vous chosen by Rhino and his gang of cohorts – a hideout inhabited by one eccentric painter (a mesmerizing Elina Löwensohn) on her annual summer retreat and a few of her guests. Of course – surprise!- the plan goes awry, and what happens next is the year’s most gloriously invigorating (not to mention dazzlingly beautiful) shoot out, where over the course of a single, mind-blowing day an idyllic spot where wild happenings and orgies used to take place turns into a gruesome battlefield.
“Any stray excerpt of “Corpses” could be taken as evidence of a fascinating, eccentric lost obscurity, replete with all the outdated joys of its chosen era and genre references. They include solarized images, gratuitous nudity, giant Spaghetti Western-style closeups of glaring eyes, disorienting cross-cutting, gauzy flashbacks, surrealism, crude symbolism and so forth, all shot for maximum grainy nostalgia value in super-16mm… The technique is impeccable, extending to a soundtrack mostly comprised of delicious archival tracks, many by the era’s screen composing king, Ennio Morricone himself.” (Variety)
“With these orgasmic shootouts putting the f*ck into clusterf*ck, perverse desires transmute low genre into pure gold.” (Sight & Sound)
“Pastiche filmmakers Cattet and Forzani take a deep dive into the ultra-violent Italian crime pictures of the 60s and 70s for this sweaty, sun-drenched shootout.” (NOW Toronto)
Let the Corpses Tan ‘Laissez bronzer les cadavres’ (Hélène Cattet & Bruno Forzani, 2017 / 92 mins / In French with English subs) Every summer, Luce, an eccentric 50-something painter, spends her time in a small and isolated township, which lies in ruins in southern France, surrounded by guests. This summer, these guests are Max Bernier (an old flame, author and alcoholic), her current squeeze (a lawyer named Bisorgueil), and three friends of his whom she has yet to meet: Rhino, Gros and Alex. After finishing their shopping in town, these three unknowns attack an armored truck and make off with 250 kg of gold. They then return to Luce’s place, counting on her to hide them until the end of the summer… But certain events will throw a spanner in the works, and the hamlet will transform itself into a battlefield over the course of a very long and turbulent day.
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