Janus Films Releasing The Beast

– Henry James meets AI. Bertrand Bonello's very loose adaptation of James' novella “Beast In The Jungle” takes the kernel of the author's 80 page work and expands it into an 145 minute epic spanning three time frames some 130 years apart (Guillaume Bread and Benjamin Charbit co-wrote).

Lea Seydoux plays Gabrielle across all three periods of the story. Her suitor is Louis (George McKay). For the first half of the movie, the screenplay mainly focuses on two time eras: 1910, in which Gabrielle is a married pianist who is drawn to Louis. 2044, which posits Gabrielle in a future where she recognizes him, but not vice-versa. Later, a third epoch, 2014, takes center stage. In this era, Louis is a misogynist and Gabrielle a model-actress who becomes the target of his target of attention (this portion is said to based on a true crime case).

Bonello cuts back and forth freely between the years, using aspect ratios and media (film and digital) to signal the shifts in time. It's an adventurous concept which, occasionally, evokes Resnais' LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD as much as James. The notion of a relationship spanning across time is an inherently fascinating one even if it doesn't all quite work.

Seydoux is on camera for virtually the entire film. She brilliantly evokes her Gabrielle at all three phases/versions of her life. She makes each of them distinct, while also capturing the characters' enduring essence. McKay is also quite good, even if his Louis isn't as singular (by design). There are other characters, but none are all too significant.

In addition to the themes of love and commitment, Bonello also uses dolls as a common symbol, with the most significant being a very human android named Poupee Kelly (Guslagie Malanga) in the future. The lead character being apprehensive about their future which is a theme in James's book is magnified exponentially by Bonello.

Unfortunately, the modern (2014) story is so divergent in tone from the others, that it seriously harms the flow of the film. Thematically, one could stretch and pull in order to force it into the carefully laid out past and future sections to make it “fit”, but it never comes together. Further, it's the longest (and largely unbroken) segment to boot – not to mention distasteful. The James roots were already tenuous, but this portion renders any connection almost moot.

THE BEAST is a sharp looking film. The Beatles-like Nehru Jacket is a nice touch in the disco. The central ideas are powerful, and Seydoux is superb. It's a movie worth exploring as much for noting it's flaws as admiring its moxie.

THE BEAST is currently streaming on The Criterion Channel and for rental. It's on this Blu Ray as well as DVD.

Coming to DVD & Blu-ray on 12/10/24.

https://www.criterion.com/films/34331-the-beast

By the year 2044, artificial intelligence reigns, and human emotions are a liability that must be surgically removed to produce a more pliant workforce. But this procedure triggers Gabrielle (Léa Seydoux) to experience haunting memories of her past lives, as she encounters different incarnations of her paramour, Louis (George MacKay), first in belle epoque Paris and then in 2014 Los Angeles. As she once more undergoes the pains and pleasures of romance—and rediscovers what it means to be truly alive—Gabrielle awaits the erasure of her humanity with growing fascination and dread. In his most ambitious film yet, visionary director Bertrand Bonello freely adapts Henry James’s novella The Beast in the Jungle into a visually stunning science-fiction labyrinth that is as metaphysically mysterious as it is emotionally powerful. Powered by Seydoux’s heartrending performance, The Beast poignantly imagines the consequences of humankind becoming too afraid to risk the inherent vulnerability of love.

INCLUDES:

Meet the Filmmakers, a new interview with director Bertrand Bonello
Trailer
English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

Announcement