PASCALE BRETON: ILLUMINATION (2005)



REVIEW BY TRAVIS KIRBY

Ildut Le Du (Clet Beyer) is an estranged young man who seems ill at ease in his environment. He used to be a fisherman on a small boat, but is not suited for the job. At the end of one journey Ildut and finally loses it and gives in to the voices he hears in his head. An unknown amount of time later Ildut is now back home and seems removed from the world, but he is still alive. One day he is repairing the water heater at the home of his grandmother, Anna (Albertine Dagand) and he spots her beautiful nurse Christina (Mélanie Le Ray). Ildut becomes obsessed with this woman he has never even spoken to and he now has a reason to live and try and get better. He sets off on a strange journey that leads him to a spiritual guru who gives a list of incredibly strange and perverse tasks to complete. Partway through his tasks, Ildut runs into Christina, his grandmother’s nurse. Ildut seems to wake from a dream. From there Ildut’s journey is still not complete, but it will end in an almost surreal manner.

This debut film from writer/director Pascale Breton is a very strong effort in every aspect. To me the only major flaw is the fact that the film seems to be split into to distinct portions. These portions are like small episodes within the movie that give it a very formulaic feel. Despite this formulaic feeling the film rolls along and provides a very interesting study of Ildut as he seems to drift back and forth from insane to almost normal. Throughout the entire film an excellent soundtrack by Eric Duchamp and Nori of simplistic, melodic guitar accompanies Ildut as if it is a part of his persona. Music plays an important role for Ildut at many different points in the film although we are never quite sure why this is. This is another flaw in the film; the back-stories are not as strong as they could be. Ildut’s parents remain in the shadows for almost all of the film but have a strong confrontation with him in their single scene. Even Christina remains an almost unknown character throughout the film. We never really learn about her past, or even her present for that matter. Despite these small flaws the film is compelling and well worth a viewing if it receives distribution.