The Beast * * * * ½

France 1910 (better than France 1917, says George)

Immediately after viewing this film I was inspired to view it again. So I did.  I watched it twice in two days.

I know very little about French director Bertrand Bonello.  Not many of his films have had a showing here, and I wonder if The Beast would, were it not for the star power of Lea Seydoux ?

This brave and beautiful film is loosely adapted (or inspired by) a Henry James Novella The Beast in the Jungle. 

The story is set over different times and reaches far enough into the future - 2044 - to be regarded as science fiction at times. Though we see very little that is futuristic other than a mostly quiet and empty world because no one has to do anything any more. AI takes care of most tasks. 

Gabrielle wants her life to be more fulfilling: "Give me a real job", she asks her AI analyst. But there are no jobs other than the boring one she has, which is testing the temperature of a data core.  Her anxiety haunts her. She cannot settle. And so she is given a chance to have her DNA reset by projecting her into a past. 

In the early twentieth century she meets a man, Louis, (George MacKay) who is having the same DNA experiment.  Learning of her sense of dread he introduces her to a clairvoyant to see if she can allay her fears. 

From the clairvoyant Gabrielle has learned  that her destiny walks beside her as an invisible beast, whilst the holy spirit of hope visits her as a pigeon. But should it actually enter her home, she should consider it to be the messenger of death.

At a private art exhibition in Paris in 1910, at an opera in Naples and in 2014 Louis appears. Always unattached and there for her. 

"I will protect you", says Louis.

In 1910 she is a celebrated pianist. She is a married and has a successful doll making business with a good man who cares deeply for her even though they are not ideally matched.  

Then in 1910 the great floods of Paris changes everything for Gabrielle and Louis.

Whether she is actually living in this past, or whether it is her imagination created by AI therapy, I do not know.  But we go there with her.  At times she is accompanied by a  doll-like simulant.  She takes Gabrielle to different Night Clubs that are set in the eras of - the 60s, 70s, 80, 00s.

In the era of 2014 Gabrielle is a woman alone living in a beautiful home that is not hers.  But Louis has changed. The man who would once die to protect her is now self obsessed and dangerous. 

It's part SF, it's part historical drama, it's part suspense and horror. 

Visually, the historical era reminded me of the lushness of Visconti, whilst the modern era reflects the strange and menacing world of David Lynch. Yet The Beast is still it's own work.

It's an extraordinary piece of cinema that is moving and intelligent.

See it once, and like me you might well want to see it again for an even more rewarding experience. Or you might never want to see anything like it again. It could have that effect on you too.