- Actors: Matthias Schoenaerts, Diane Kruger
- Director: Alice Winocour
- Disc Format: Color, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
- Language: French
- Subtitles: English, Spanish
- Region: Region 1
- Rated: Unrated
- Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO
- Release Date: December 13, 2016
- Run Time: 98 minutes
It could be seen
as a flaw that Disorder bounces back
and forth between a realism and typical action spectacle, but the innovation of
the film is its ability to inspire doubt about which will dominate the
narrative from one moment to the next. The protagonist is clearly suffering
from PTSD, though it is a mistake to immediately dismiss all of his paranoia as
completely unfounded. At the same time, despite the existence of very real
dangers, this does not make the reaction to them normal by any means. Director
Alice Winocour is very clearly addressing the idea that traumatic experiences
have a dramatic effect on how the world is viewed, though it is unclear what
message she is attempting to make about this phenomenon once the action takes
over the narrative.
Matthias
Schoenaerts gives another committed performance as Vincent, a role written
specific for the actor. Vincent is a discharged Afghanistan veteran, still
suffering from the aftereffects of the war when he takes a job as a private
bodyguard for a wealthy Lebanese businessman. Though Vincent is instinctually
suspicious of the activities carried out by his employer, supposedly due to the
racial resemblance he shares to those that he has returned from fighting, he
dedicates himself to the job in order to protect his boss’s French wife and
their son.
Vincent spends
more time focused on protecting the wife than his actual boss, but the inner
workings of Jessie (Diane Kruger) are as much a mystery to the audience as they
are to the bodyguard. Why is she in this marriage? She often appears as little
more than a trophy amidst countless other possessions in their luxurious French
Riviera villa, held captive by the unseen dangers which Vincent is hired for.
Much is left unsaid between these characters, and most of the film’s ideas and
themes must be inferred from the effective performance from the leads.
Though effective
at his job, rough-around-the-edges only begins to describe the way Vincent
behaves. Even as he is performing his duties, Vincent can’t help but
investigate his employer. As well as seeing danger in most situations, Vincent
also begins to suspect the integrity of his boss’s actions, and all of this is
compounded by his quick temper and knee-jerk reactions. When some of this
paranoia turns out to be warranted, including the questionable legality of his
employer’s business, Vincent is all that remains to protect Jessie and her son
from an onslaught of attacks.
What begins as a
suspenseful drama about PTSD quickly devolves into a home invasion action
thriller in the final act. While that does present adequate evidence of
Winocour’s ability to direct in several different genres, the film feels more
like two halves than one complete film. Each of the two halves only remain connected
due to the dedicated performance from Schoenaerts, easily one of the most
underappreciated actors working today. Not too long ago Tom Hardy was in this
position, so effective at embodying each role with a raw energy that it rarely
reads as acting at all. In fact, the two actors faced off against each other in
the excellent but underappreciated crime film, The Drop. His commitment to the role in Disorder meant forced sleep deprivation, a method that effectively
adds a layer of tension to his character’s paranoia. Mark my words; we will be
seeing a lot more from this actor in the future. We will also likely more of
this narrative, as plans for an American remake of Disorder are already underway.
The only special
features included are two trailers for the film.
Entertainment Value:
8/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 7.5/10
Historical
Significance: 6.5/10
Special Features: 1/10
No comments:
Post a Comment