Pacifiction – A Gloriously Maddening Vision of the Apocalypse

Most viewers would be slightly gobsmacked to hear that Pacifiction is Albert Serra’s most accessible and conventionally pleasing film. While he inspires a great deal of cultish enthusiasm among cinephiles who have a yen for opaque, intellectually rigorous tone poems, his very distinctive brand of slow cinema can leave cinema-goers feeling alienated. By any standard, this film hardly qualifies as a light-hearted crowd-pleaser but it does provide Serra with an opportunity to riff on new themes. He remains enamored of long takes and woozy, dreamlike visuals but this chilling evocation of an apocalyptic nightmare is unlike any of his other films. 

The film essentially functions as a loosely plotted meditation on many of the pet themes of contemporary French cinema. As in many Gallic examinations of government corruption and institutional rot, moving at an extremely languid pace and intentionally keeps its audience at an arm’s length. They are never really given the chance to identify with De Roller (Magimel), who is presented as a shady French government official who grows increasingly concerned about the possibility of nuclear tests being conducted on the island of Tahiti. He serves as a representative of France’s shameful colonial past, while also plainly suggesting that no real progress has been made. Very little is fully, or even partially, explained and De Roller is regularly seen walking in and out of meetings at which his misdeeds are discussed in obtuse terms. Over the course of several days, he drifts into madness, as he begins to experience a crisis of faith.

All of this will appear to be somewhat familiar to fans of Claire Denis’s oeuvre and they may even be disappointed by the fact that the film isn’t resolutely impenetrable. Artur Tort’s lauded cinematography goes along way in drawing meaning out of glossy, heavily manicured surfaces. He works to suggest that there is always destructive machinery at work in the margins of the frame. Pollution and environmental damage never fully encroach upon the island paradise that De Roller inhabits but there is always the sense that this natural beauty isn’t entirely authentic. This environment takes on an uncanny quality and is bathed in increasingly sulphuric tones as time goes on. It’s difficult not to feel taken aback when confronted by the ugliness of certain images but these shots communicate something significant about the colonial mindset. As with other virtues that the film possesses, it is easier to admire Tort’s approach than it is to outright adore it. 

Then again, it is hard to find films that fully commit to following a rhythm that is downright lethargic. If audiences are going to have abrasive, challenging French art films, they might as well be as a rewarding as Pacifiction. Serra even has the decency to present his leading man with a role that asks him to project a sinister air. Magimel can play this sort of role in his sleep but that knowledge doesn’t diminish the effect of his performance. He’s all vim and vigor and manages to display oleaginous charm when interacting with his on-screen love interest. Now, fans of arthouse cinema would be quick to point out that this is the sort of film in which characters are written as vague abstractions and actors are consigned to playing ornamental roles in project that are more concerned with the fundamentals of pure cinema. This is the sort of note that one feels they have to include in a review of a film of this sort. 

Despite all the griping about how tough it was to fully get on this film’s wavelength, it is nonetheless still something rare and special. Pacifiction electrifies as much as it enervates and that becomes one of its chief attributes. After all, Serra would probably be rather upset if one of his films were to be wholeheartedly embraced by members of the public. 

still courtesy of Grasshopper Film

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Zita Short

I am passionate about screwball comedies from the 1930s and certain actresses from the Golden Age of Hollywood. I’ll aim to review new Netflix releases and write features, so expect a lot of romantic comedies and cult favourites.