Denis’ somewhat maligned slow-burn thriller still gives morbid pleasures if you find vampirism in everyday settings fascinating, as her exploitation-esque work explores the insatiable lust for sex and blood.
Review #3,016
Dir. Claire Denis
2001 | France | Drama, Horror | 101min | 1.85:1 | French & English
R21 (passed clean) for violence, scenes of sexual assault and nudity
Cast: Vincent Gallo, Tricia Vessey, Beatrice Dalle, Alex Descas, Florence Loiret Caille
Plot: Newlyweds Shane and June arrive in Paris for their honeymoon. In the process of trying to find a cure for his strange, bloodthirsty disease, Shane stumbles upon the story of a doctor and his flesh-eating wife.
Awards: Official Selection (Cannes)
International Sales: Wild Bunch
Accessibility Index
Subject Matter: Mature – Vampirism; Lust for Blood & Sex; Marriage Issues
Narrative Style: Slightly Complex
Pace: Slightly Slow
Audience Type: Cult Arthouse
Viewed: MUBI
Spoilers: No
Made right after Beau travail (1999), which has long been considered essential viewing in Claire Denis’ remarkable filmography, Trouble Every Day is much less highly regarded.
Its exploitative nature, with its mix of blood, sexual assault and explicit nudity, will alienate most audiences, but this somewhat maligned work still gives morbid pleasures, particularly if you find vampirism in everyday settings fascinating.
A slow-burning thriller with elements of horror, Trouble Every Day takes its time to set up two couples. One centres on an outcast doctor and his mysterious wife, whom he locks up (though often unsuccessfully) in his apartment; the other is an American couple on their honeymoon in Paris, where a sad-faced Vincent Gallo (before his The Brown Bunny notoriety) plays a man in search of that elusive doctor.
Denis’ film works as a mystery, but it is no secret from the outset that these two narrative threads will collide at some point, as the lust for blood leads to inevitable consequences.
While its B-movie elements might seem uncharacteristic of Denis, her deliberate craft provides the confidence that you are in good hands.
“I don’t want to wait anymore. I want to die.”
She has a unique way with mood-setting; though disturbing at times, there is an intoxicating (or shall we say, intimidating) sense of how she depicts sensuality on camera, accompanied by the teasing sounds of her trusted composer, Tindersticks.
The best examples are two wordless sequences showing the prospect of forbidden sex that develops into something else altogether. To be able to do it twice convincingly is a testament to her ability as a filmmaker.
Although Trouble Every Day doesn’t offer much narratively, and its theme of ‘social misfits’ with morally dubious aims doesn’t quite break out into something truly resonating, emotionally or intellectually, there is enough in it to appease completists.
One thing I really love about Denis is that she rarely fails to be bold and uncompromising in whatever she does, and like her fellow French auteur, Oliver Assayas, they often operate within the textures of their characters’ worlds, rather than simply just narrativising them.
Grade: B
Trailer:
Music:
Eternality Tan 