demonlover Review

Walking a fine line between narratively abstract art movie and genre filmmaking, Olivier Assayas's demonlover occasionally wanders a bit too far in one direction at the sake of the other. Sheer directorial verve keeps the project from falling apart; the movie may be a bit messy at times, but so are the the themes and ideas it explores.

Paris-based media conglomerate Volf Group is in the process of buying out Tokyo Anime, a company already producing successful animated porn and looking to expand in to a 3-D video game style variation that will revolutionize the industry. Two competing companies are looking for exclusive web licensing rights to Volf Group's new acquisition: the Japanese Magnatronics and the U.S. run Demonlover.

Volf's personal assistant Diane (Connie Nielsen) has, though devious means, landed a new position at the company as part of the team responsible for the Tokyo Anime licensing. Covertly also working for Magnatronics in order to undermine Demonlover's efforts, Diane discovers a connection between the American company and the Hellfire Club, a hard to access underground website specializing in interactive torture that looks uncomfortably realistic. As things get murkier and more disturbing, Diane realizes that she is alone with no one to trust, not her coworker Herve (Charles Berling), certainly not her spiteful assistant Elise (Chloe Sevigny), and perhaps not even herself. After all, no one else has reason to trust her.

Assayas lets demonlover develop as a pretty much straightforward (if convoluted) corporate thriller for the first half of the film. At a certain point, however, when Diane's attempts to sabotage Demonlover go awry, the film heads into even darker, more confusing territory. Character allegiances and levels of power change even if their identities do not. The plot, already demanding the strictest attention, twists and contorts to the point of near-abstraction. The viewer has to trust the director for guidance. It's a lot to ask, and while Assayas's experiment may or may not be as successful as he intended, there certainly are rewards for the adventurous and plenty to mull over after the film has finished.

What keeps the film engaging and entertaining is not only Assayas's willingness to follow his own instincts, narrative convention be damned, but also his game collaborators. Denis Lenoir's widescreen photography makes great use of the corporate settings from the offices with their designer ashtrays to the expensive hotel rooms overlooking the various cities the characters find themselves in. Oftentimes shooting the actors through or against planes of glass to gorgeous effect, Lenoir is also able in indulge in more impressionistic character shots as well as some nice aerial landscape views. Sonic Youth provide a creeping, droning score that never overpowers the film, adding to the sense of dread brought about the backroom machinations that drive the plot. Only the main title theme sounds like something that would appear on one of their proper albums; the rest of the material fits squarely in with the more experimental work they release on their own label.

Connie Nielsen, as the axis on which everything in the film must pivot, carries the film quite well. She would do well to pursue more projects like this one in tandem with her Hollywood work. As cold and calculating as her character is, she remains an audience identification figure and manages to generate sympathy the further she ventures into the conspiracy surrounding her. Charles Berling, working with Assayas a second time after the period piece Les Destinees, has a charismatic edge to him that turns decidedly snakelike as his ruthlessness becomes more apparent. Chloe Sevigny initially seems somewhat miscast (indeed, she is filling in for Assayas's original choice of Viginie Leyoden), but proves herself more than up to the challange of playing the cutthroat business game. Gina Gershon makes the most of her flamboyant supporting role as a Demonlover executive with a fondness for expensive boots.

Ultimately, one's reaction to this deliberately difficult film will be at least partially dictated by one's tolerance for both the subject matter and the audacity with which the story is told. It may not be a masterpiece, but Olivier Assayas is to commended for sticking to his guns and making the movie he obviously wanted to make. Palm Pictures' R-Rated DVD is out now; the unrated director's cut will follow in June.