Titane

Ten Second Review: Certainly not for everyone, but if you’re looking for something visually exciting and mind bending, Titane might scratch an itch.

I must admit that I was in a foul mood heading into this film. A maelstrom of annoying events one after the other had not put me in the mood to sit quietly for a couple of hours.

Exploring a variety of themes, Titane tells the story of Alexia, a woman who is involved in an accident as a child leaving here with a titanium plate on her skull. 

While I may not have been in any sort of mood to watch a film, I must admit that Titane grabbed me quite quickly and proceeded to not let me go. I was quite quickly entranced and intrigued by the sound, the images and the range of subjects that I felt the film was grappling with.

I was previously a fan of Julia Ducournau work having seen Raw in 2016. Due to my surprise enjoyment of that film, I went into Titane blind. I hadn’t even seen a poster. When I was asked if I’d like to see this new film, “it’s directed by the same woman who made Raw”, that was enough. I was similarly blindsided by the graphic and gruesome tone that this film took. That feeling as your jaw hits the ground suddenly and you spend the next 10 minutes trying to pick it up only for it to crash to the ground again soon after.

This isn’t really a film to review and much more one to discuss and if that sounds ridiculous to you then it certainly isn’t for you. If that description peaked your interested then you may well enjoy it. However, in the spirit of reviewing it, it must be said that Agathe Rouselle as Alexia is phenomenal. Vincent Lindon is also amazing but Rouselle really owns this role. She manages to exude power, fragility, confidence, fear, lust and disgust all so fluidly and while it would be hard to say Titane is a joy to watch, Rouselle most certainly is. I also mentioned the imagery and sound previously, but just to reiterate, the assault this film is on the senses will either leave you exhilarated or nauseated (maybe even both).

This really isn’t a film for all audiences. I saw it in a screening that had four people total and that is not wholly surprising. One of the three other people was a man there with his partner and he sniggered at several points in the film. When it ended and the lights went up he looked at me in shock, not sure whether to laugh or vomit. He giggled and exclaimed “what a load of twaddle”. After sitting for a moment to take it in, I left the screening to see him bent over a bin wretching while his partner patted him on the back. In between wretches he shouted “there was so much wrong with that!” Admittedly when the credits opened I heard I heard him ask his partner “is this in French?” followed by a sigh at her affirmative reply so I don’t think he knew what he was getting in to. This is not meant to scare anyone off (in fact I’m sure this story will work to entice some), it just so happens I think that Julia Ducournau would be very proud of the effect she had on this man.