Hors Satan

Sometimes it’s nice to be surprised and sometimes there's comfort in knowing what's in store. When it comes to the films of Bruno Dumont one can expect introspection and long sequences of silence undercut by the director’s noticeable detached ponderous style. Dumont delivers once again with just that but Hors Satan is not comforting.

He's unnamed here but David Dewaele plays 'Le Gars', an unkempt man with rotting teeth who spends most of his waking hours wandering the fields and dunes that surround his sleepy seaside village. A sense of aloofness surrounds Le Gars as does an air of violence: when he dispatches Elle's (Lematre) stepfather for, we're led to believe, abusing her, Elle becomes besotted with her monosyllabic hero but her attempts to coax him into bed prove fruitless. Le Gars seems uninterested in her and everything else as he breezes through this world with a detached outlook. Just who is he and why is a local lady asking him to help her teenage daughter who she thinks is possessed?

Is Le Gars the Second Coming? Is he the devil? If he's the former, this is a different Jesus to the one who preached peace, love and understanding (as Jesus warned, he will return as a lion). Le Gars kills Elle’s stepfather and viciously beats 'le garde' (character names aren’t important here apparently but the actor is Bon) when he comes on too strong with Elle. He gives praise to, again we're led to believe, God, falling to his knees in thanks for a beautiful sunrise. If he’s the latter, he’s confused: there's an instinct to protect and to right wrongs. Or is this a Satan coaxing potential followers with kindness? Who knows.

Chances are you won't care. The languid pace kills any interest in finding out what Dumont is trying to say; we're always aware we're watching a film and, apparently more important to Bruno Dumont, we’re watching a Bruno Dumont film. The seemingly endless hill walking gets repetitive very quickly despite some gorgeous photography of misty fields at sunrise. The constant fade-ins and outs render the pace slower still.

There's a good idea here but Dumont's intrusive style ruins it.