IFFR KINO #21: Trouble Everyday

Season 3 of IFFR KINO continues on Wednesday, 6 March, with Claire Denis’ Trouble Everyday, in which the celebrated French director gives her own unique twist to the vampire genre. On 35 mm, with Vincent Gallo and Béatrice Dalle.

Trouble Everyday screened at IFFR in 2002. Six months previously, the film had unleashed a veritable scandal during the Cannes film festival, where it premièred. Following on from the gentle family drama Nénette et Boni (1996) and the pure, visual sumptuousness of Beau travail (1999), Denis presented a bloody spectacle about desire and love; about the thin line between a kiss and a bite. The saying 'I could eat you up' gets a very literal meaning in Trouble Everyday.

A newlywed American couple arrive in Paris. On their honeymoon, of course – but also for something else. The husband, Shane (Vincent Gallo), is looking for an old colleague, a doctor who has important information about an extreme problem Shane is facing. Then it becomes apparent that this doctor Semeneau has gone into hiding to protect his wife Coré (Béatrice 'La Grande Bouche' Dalle), who has a very great appetite for love. The quest for the hidden and darkest areas of our brains unfolds at a slow tempo, fragmented, with sparse dialogue and restrained acting. The music is by Tindersticks, who were also responsible for the soundtrack of Nénette et Boni.

Claire Denis, 2001, France, 102’, French, English subtitles

Why now?
Claire Denis was a guest at IFFR last year, when she gave a masterclass looking back on her entire oeuvre. We screened her latest (and first English-language) film High Life (2018), a science-fiction work with Robert Pattinson and Juliette Binoche in the lead roles. A film just as contrary as Trouble Everyday, with Denis again using stylised characters and undermining the rules of the genre.

Wednesday, 6 March, 19:30, KINO Rotterdam