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CHAOS

An random act of violence upends the frenzied lives of a bourgeois Parisian couple (Vincent Lindon and Catherine Frot) in this intriguing, darkly humored film directed with assured narrative and visual style by Coline Serreau. The French writer/director repeats several motifs, such as the fast-paced opening sequence in which Hélène and Paul rush around their apartment as they get ready for a night out. As they drive to their destination, they witness the brutal beating of a young hooker (the extraordinary Rachida Brakni) by three thugs. Paul locks the car doors rather than jumping out to help the girl, and he’s more concerned with the blood splattered on his windshield than with reporting the crime. As if roused from her self-absorbed stupor, Hélène visits the injured Noémie in the hospital and nurses her back to health. The two women become friends and embark on an adventure to rid Noémie of her vengeful pimps.

Chaos is part feminist thriller and part pointed black comedy about a world where people communicate by mobile phone and where a self-centered son hides from his elderly mother (veteran actress Line Renaud) rather than spend time with her. That Serreau ends her film with a shot of Renaud’s luminous face is telling: perhaps the humanity of women is the best weapon against such a chaotic and cruel society. In French with English subtitles. (109 minutes)

BY LOREN KING

Issue Date: April 25 - May 1, 2003
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