Few months ago I heard of this motion flick goes by the name of Twentynine Palms, French number about a couple driving round the Joshua Tree desert in L.A, seems to be a fairly intense affair, all filthing and murder, an "experimental horror film" according to director Bruno Dumont, fella behind 1997's La Vie de Jésus and 99's L'Humanité.
I hear tell of heavy atmospherics and heavier skull-bashery, hear critics tearing chunks out each others eye-holes;
"It's a fucking masterpiece!"
"It's an abomination! It bored me out my prostate!"
"It's about The War!"
"It's about 110 Minutes Too Long!"
These sortsa hollers cross the broadsheets.
And The Duke knee-deep in Crisis. Where the hell can I see this damn thing, anyhow?
Maybe at the Queens Film Theater in Belfast, is what I pondered, but holy shit, it'd have to be a damn work of unsurpassed wonder for to justify that kinda excursion, for to run the risk of being trapped among a buncha Buckfast-soaked students from picture's end till the train sets off at dawn.
But still the niggling, on account of I really fucking wanted to see it, and why, a whole hosta reasons, but primarily something about how The French know a thing or two about the horror flicks these days.
On account of folks like Gasper Noé and Marina de Van and Catherine Breillat stalking the screens, hell-bent on tearing guts out the yaps with the kinda brutality and unblinking fascination with Human Torment ain't nobody seen since back in 1983 when, insiders say, Marlon Brando allegedly went all kindsa demented in downtown Venice, a torture spree lasting ninety-two hours straight, and all because of something involving The Russians.
So the point of it all is that I didn't get to see it in the cinema-theater, but who needs to worry about anything of the sort, since it's now available on DVD, and so yeah, sitting down with this picture concerning the town of Twentynine Palms, this meditative, contradictory flick all about the savagery a man's capable of, given the right series a shoves.
The kinda shoves that led Dustin Hoffman to blow the fuck out feet left and right in Straw Dogs, aye. The kinda shoves that had Burt Reynolds and friends getting all revengeful of the senses back in Deliverance. The kinda shoves that got Vincent Cassel and pal crushing skulls with a fire extinguisher in Irreversible. The kinda shoves, I say, that led to Camille Keaton slicing a man's filth-limb from his flesh in I Spit On Your Grave.
And all those shoves, they all reek of sexual violation, and so too the shoves in Twentynine Palms, but this is a different sorta hell-broth entirely.
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Article comments
1 - Guppusmaximus
Some more French artsy fartsy crap,huh??What do the french know about 29 Palms?Or horror flicks for that matter... Obviously nothing because 29 palms isn't a "Joshua Tree" desert in L.A. 29 Palms is a town in Southern California closer to Palm Springs where most of the deserts have Joshua Trees but they also have Cactus,Choa Plants,etc.. Also, Joshua Tree is another town not too far from 29 Palms. Anyways, Dumont should've made a military movie instead considering the biggest US Marine installment is located in 29 Palms...Oh yeah, that's right...The French don't understand the concept of defense. No matter how much bragging or overrating people do, this is a film that should've stayed overseas!
2 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
oh come now, t'was a wonderfully hypnotic affair, no? and any trouble with geographical conerns are probably my fault here. mind you, i DID take the whole Joshua Tree stuff from interviews and the like.
but i get the suspision maybe your problem here is that the flick is French, rather than having any sorta particular issue with the content. Which is really your problem, with all due respect, and not much Dumont coulda done about that. Also, you talk like he's attacking America or something, rather than presenting it with nothing but awe. but regardless, thanks for chipping in!
3 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
and i can't help looking at your comment about "the french don't understand the concept of defence" and wondering to myself about when France was last invaded... um...
4 - Guppusmaximus
I think that maybe if the film was produced by an American it would've acurately captured the essance of us Americans. True enough, nowadays, I do have a problem with the French because of their disgusting stance against the unprecedented display of terror but I have always hated their films.. It would've been more realistic if Dumont actually made a film about the military considering those people make up most of the population of 29 palms not people joyriding talking about sex..In a way he is attacking America, Our Senses!! Like I said Artsy Fartsy Crap. Their laxed approach at helping out the US even though we have bailed them out before but it's still okay to make money off their crud that they export to our beloved country.
5 - guppusmaximus
I'm sorry you see it as just a movie review...
6 - Mat Brewster
Duke, fine review as always. Yet another reason I should dish out the cash for a region free DVD player.
Guppusmaximus, chill is the word. Tis a review of a movie, not a critique the countries military action, or inaction as the case may be.
And the French have made a number of rather good, er fantastic films. Have you actually seen this one? It sounds like the man made a darn fine piece of horror cinema. Who cares if he got a little geography wrong? And I'm quite sure plenty of military folks do a good deal of driving and sexing.
Sorry for the rant, Duke. Folks knocking a country I rather love for none other than not waging war, kind of gets to me.
7 - ss
Duke:
Great review, haven't seen it but it sounds pretty fucking good to me.
Maximum Guppy:
Here's you-
RRRRRRRrrrr the French!
They make me so mad! If they don't quit selling wine to terrorists and putting one movie every two years into limited release here, in MY COUNTRY...
Buncha artsy farts!
RRRRRRRrrrr the French!
I hate'm so much! Damn French...
8 - Daggett
I, unfortunately, also watch this movie. It was so slow that I put the movie on 2x speed just to get threw it and it was still dull as dishwater. I found the movie in dollar bin at Walmart and should have left it there. I happen to live near 29 Palms so I wanted to see were they were filming it.
I will admit the the desert folk are a little on the strange side and that is putting it mildly, but the story was just absurd. The scene that comes to mind is a rape scene out in the desert where the rapists are driving a brand new lifted ford truck. This is completely absurd. Now if it had been a beat-up old ford from 1980 with four different tires, missing a bumper and a headlight and the guys that got out of it were missing half there teeth and had one good eye that would have been more realistic.