MAYDAY
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1996 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 8.0 Alternative Scale: ***1/2 out of ****
France, 1994
Running Length: 1:35
MPAA Classification: No MPAA Rating (Sex, mature themes)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Shown at the Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema, 5/3/96, 5/4/96,
5/6/96
Cast: Eric Challier, Valerie Gabriel, Tonio Descanvelle, Salah Teskouk, Muriel Amat, Xavier Thiam, Nathalie Ortega, Fred Saurel, Stephane Derossis, Jean-Claude Dreyfus, Renaud Lebas, Bruno Andrieux, Kristin Scott-Thomas, Benoit Regent, Andree Damant, Etienne de Swarte Director: Pierre Grange Producer: Marin Karmitz Screenplay: Pierre Grange Cinematography: Tessa Racine In French with subtitles
At times reminiscent of Robert Altman's SHORT CUTS, Krzysztof Kieslowski's DECALOGUE, and Jim Jarmusch's MYSTERY TRAIN, Pierre Grange's debut feature, MAYDAY, is a bold stroke of narrative structure and complexity. In presenting his views of modern life in France, Grange uses an unconventional multi-episodic storyline where characters and events criss-cross through segments other than those which focus specifically on them.
The time is 7:48 on a Sunday evening in May. It's election day, and the polls will close in twelve minutes. At that point, French television will announce the fifth president of the fifth republic. MAYDAY tells eight separate-yet-connected stories about the lives of those who dwell in different apartments of the same building during the time leading up to the momentous announcement. The walls are thin and sounds carry, whether they're the cries of a child, the moans of a couple making love, the roar of a motorcycle being started, the blaring noise of a radio or phonograph, or the unmistakable crack of a gunshot.
The first characters we meet are a pair of abstentionists who quarrel about their unborn child and their inability to get to the poles. Next is a wedding reception that is violently interrupted. There's a husband who ignores his wife, then dresses up as an opera diva when she storms out of the apartment. The man next store welcomes this young wife and agrees to help with her unorthodox plan to make her husband jealous. At an election party, the resolution of a father/son conflict involves alcohol, drugs, and guns. Elsewhere, a man, woman, and child enjoy what starts out as a pleasant domestic moment before ending tragically. Meanwhile, a couple in their twilight years reflect on everything that's transpiring around them as the hands on the clock approach 8:00.
Grange's handling of so many interconnecting stories is nothing short of masterful. Using the noises of the apartment building as audio cues, he not only aligns the time frame in all the episodes, but intrigues the audience about the reasons behind each repeated sound. Who is making love? Why is a motorcycle being started inside the building? And, with the potential for violence ripe in so many segments, who is firing a gun?
A wide variety of actors were used in significant parts. While all are professionals, some are better known than others. Jean-Claude Dreyfus (DELICATESSEN) and Kristin Scott-Thomas (FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL) have roles, and MAYDAY marks the final on-screen appearance of the late Benoit Regent (BLUE). Different ethnicities are represented, although not different social classes -- everyone here is part of France's lower economic strata.
MAYDAY serves as a social and (to a lesser degree) political commentary. Shot in The Glycines, an apartment complex that was designed as a utopian setting in the '60s, this movie shows how fragmented and self-absorbed people have become over the decades. The realities of human existence have replaced idealism. MAYDAY has its share of comic moments, but a sense of futility and tragedy underscores nearly every story. And, although the film's most obvious aspect is its brilliant, meticulous plotting, Grange has made certain that the film's suspense doesn't eclipse its message.
- James Berardinelli e-mail: berardin@bc.cybernex.net web: http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin
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