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Lux terna (film)
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Wikipedia article
'Lux terna' (stylized as 'LVX TERNA') is a 2019 French independent experimental art film written, produced and directed by Gaspar No. The piece heavily employs epileptic imagery, split-screen and 1920s-esque documentary footage involving witchcraft. It was screened out of competition at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.
Plot
The film is preceded in screenings by 'The Art of Filmmaking', a 15 minute montage of Cecil B. DeMille films narrated over with a hypnotic suggestion to relax alongside droning orchestration. The montage strobes through red, green and blue colorgrades of itself in rapid succession. The final clip, showing the crucifixion scene from 'The King of Kings', strobes in black and white.
'Lux terna' begins with a short montage of 1920's style documentary footage of witch torture, which abruptly cuts to actresses Charlotte Gainsbourg and Batrice Dalle playing fictional versions of themselves. About to shoot a film, 'God's Craft', about witches burnt at the stake, the two actresses sit down in one of the sets and discuss the cinematic depiction of witches, the way women are treated on film sets, and anecdotes from their own film shoots.
The women are joined by a producer and assistant, who escort Gainsbourg to her dressing room while Dalle leaves to conduct directorial duties. In split screen, Gainsbourg and her co-stars are seen getting make-up and costuming done while a myriad of complications occur behind the scenes. Of the two other actresses playing witches burnt at the stake, one only speaks English and is upset when her outfit is shown to reveal her breasts. Dalle, upset with the entire production team waiting for five hours to shoot one scene, argues with the director of photography to get the actors some rehearsal time while they wait.
The director of photography, who has been promised the role of director after Dalle is fired, refuses to do anything that she asks while the producers spend their time spying on Dalle to catch any slip-ups they can report to get her fired. A behind-the-scenes cameraman is also seen capturing unflattering moments of the production crew while friends of the crew appear on set and try to make conversation with Gainsbourg and the other actresses. Throughout the entirety of 'Lux terna', quotations from filmmakers Luis Buuel, Carl Theodor Dreyer and Rainer Werner Fassbinder on a director's desire for absolute control are shown on screen.
The production continues to break down once the filming of the witch-burning scene begins. The director of photography increasingly demands that the camera run for longer and that the actresses never budge. Midway through shooting, the rear projection screen malfunctions and begins to show the same red, green and blue strobing from 'The Art of Filmmaking', this time as solid colours. Music playback also malfunctions, instead playing an extremely loud droning sound. While Dalle frantically tries to get the projectionist and sound mixers to fix the problem, the director of photography insists that he is still filming and barks orders at his crew, namely at Gainsbourg to continue acting as if she is on fire and to weep for him.
The other actresses are able to break free of their bonds and leave Gainsbourg, who is unable to break her bonds, on set alone. Dalle breaks down and laments why no-one else is there to help as only she, Gainsbourg and the director of photography remain. Gainsbourg's silhouette dissolves into the strobing colours and the pole she was tied to transforms into a Christian cross. After the credits, one final Buuel quotation appears: "Thank God I'm an Atheist."
Cast
* Charlotte Gainsbourg as Charlotte
* Batrice Dalle as Batrice
* Abbey Lee as Abbey
* Clara 3000 as Clara
* Claude-Emmanuelle Gajan-Maull as Claude-Emannuelle
* Flix Maritaud as Flix
* Fred Cambier as Fred
* Karl Glusman as Karl
* Lola Pillu Perier as Lola
* Loup Brankovic as Loup
* Luka Isaac as Luka
* Maxime Ruiz as Maxime
* Mica Argaaraz as Mica
* Paul Hameline as Paul
* Stefania Cristian as Stefania
* Tom Kan as Tom
* Yannick Bono as Yannick
Production
Release
The film had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on 18 May 2019. It was set to screen at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2020; however, the festival was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was released in France on 23 September 2020 by UFO Distribution and Potemkine Films.
Yellow Veil Pictures released the film in the United States and Canada in May 2022.
Reception
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes calculated a 61% approval rating from 54 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The website's consensus reads, "Stylish but hollow, 'Lux terna' represents a frustrating regression for writer-director Gaspar No."
References
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