What do I say about Julia Ducournau's stylish but mystifying Titane that does it justice, makes sense of it, and doesn't spoil its surprises? In terms of basic premise, Alixia (played by the highly transformative Agathe Rouselle, a performance worth seeing whatever else I think of the movie) has a plate in her head since she was in a car accident as a child, an accident/condition that seems to have given her a fetishistic attraction to cars (or amplified it to extremes, since I do think she has to already have had that in her for the themes to make sense). Humans are on the menu, but bring out the monster in her, and the first act is a gory, violent serial killer story. When Alixia goes on the run and becomes a kind of cuckoo in another family, there's a huge shift that still works on a pyschosexual level - questions of gender and sexual identity about, and the film questions masculinity and relationships between men when women aren't around almost constantly - but it can feel like a different movie. Our sense of dread slowly shifts from fear of the serial killer to fear FOR her. Frustration at one's incapacity to be one's true self (layers upon layers of this) as a source of violence and recklessness, I get, and the remedy is acceptance, not the toxicity of imposed normativity. So far so good. What never quite connects for me is the strange science-fiction idea that's causing Alixia problems, something I'd describe as Cronenberg meets Tetsu the Iron Man. Worth the trip even if questions linger.
I liked it a lot. This observation is not about the quality of the film (which is great)... but was this sorta transphobic? What is it saying about the human body? Bear with me here.
She is attracted to a male-centric environment (yeah, women love cars too, but you know what I mean)-- a space where she can only enter by putting on her lipstick and playing up her femininity-- her parents don't accept her or even understand and it literally scars her-- so she acts out (kills people, lol) and escapes her environment-- finding a surrogate parent who accepts her for who she is-- a gender-fluid quasi trans-man-- but her body won't let her forget what she "really" is and forces her to look at herself in the mirror and leave the pretense behind... thus abandoning the Adrian persona... and returning to Alexia.
The movie seems batshit crazy at first, but it has a lot to say and has fun saying it. I'm just a bit worried that behind a lot of the weirdness there's a bit of a problematicâ„¢ message. I still liked it a lot. Lots to think about.
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Comments 1 - 12 of 12
Worzel
The true inheritance of Cronenbergian body horror. Really quite splutteringly surprising at times.StanleyKubrick
Kinda 'Tetsuo: The Iron Man' + Cronengbergs 'Crash' + Hank Hill vibesLoved it
starnamedstork
Carota
Siskoid
What do I say about Julia Ducournau's stylish but mystifying Titane that does it justice, makes sense of it, and doesn't spoil its surprises? In terms of basic premise, Alixia (played by the highly transformative Agathe Rouselle, a performance worth seeing whatever else I think of the movie) has a plate in her head since she was in a car accident as a child, an accident/condition that seems to have given her a fetishistic attraction to cars (or amplified it to extremes, since I do think she has to already have had that in her for the themes to make sense). Humans are on the menu, but bring out the monster in her, and the first act is a gory, violent serial killer story. When Alixia goes on the run and becomes a kind of cuckoo in another family, there's a huge shift that still works on a pyschosexual level - questions of gender and sexual identity about, and the film questions masculinity and relationships between men when women aren't around almost constantly - but it can feel like a different movie. Our sense of dread slowly shifts from fear of the serial killer to fear FOR her. Frustration at one's incapacity to be one's true self (layers upon layers of this) as a source of violence and recklessness, I get, and the remedy is acceptance, not the toxicity of imposed normativity. So far so good. What never quite connects for me is the strange science-fiction idea that's causing Alixia problems, something I'd describe as Cronenberg meets Tetsu the Iron Man. Worth the trip even if questions linger.Torgo
Well, this was one of the more disturbing Palme d'Or winners ..BarryMojo
Insane, visceral, beautiful, painful. I'll never look at my car the same again.jlfitz
streaming on huluMMDan
Absolutely beautiful!panagos
Another piece of sick gender confusion propaganda by the lgbtq - population reduction program of the elites agenda on natural people...ucuruju
I liked it a lot. This observation is not about the quality of the film (which is great)... but was this sorta transphobic? What is it saying about the human body? Bear with me here.She is attracted to a male-centric environment (yeah, women love cars too, but you know what I mean)-- a space where she can only enter by putting on her lipstick and playing up her femininity-- her parents don't accept her or even understand and it literally scars her-- so she acts out (kills people, lol) and escapes her environment-- finding a surrogate parent who accepts her for who she is-- a gender-fluid quasi trans-man-- but her body won't let her forget what she "really" is and forces her to look at herself in the mirror and leave the pretense behind... thus abandoning the Adrian persona... and returning to Alexia.
The movie seems batshit crazy at first, but it has a lot to say and has fun saying it. I'm just a bit worried that behind a lot of the weirdness there's a bit of a problematicâ„¢ message. I still liked it a lot. Lots to think about.
csarica
This is not art. This is stupidity. I don't understand what is wrong with the Cannes Jury. Don't become friends with the guys, who love this movie.