Left Bank DVD Review
Left Bank DVD Review
The Last Bank on the Left
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Rabid horror completists will take note of a lot of nods in this Belgian boo-fest: accursed architecture ala Argento; a female athlete whose talent comes in handy like in Last House on the Left; and an infant terrible cribbing Rosemary's Baby… to name a few. However, as with any good homage, Left Bank isn't a rip-off. It's an artful version of nothing but its own unique self as informed by what's come before.
Handcrafted by clever and insidious writer-director Pieter Van Hees, the supernatural story follows a sullen, driven 20-something athlete named Marie (Eline Kuppens). Her only purpose in life is to run… in all literal and underlying meanings of the word. But soon after she meets a fellow fitness fanatic, archer Bobby (Matthias Schoenaerts), champion Marie is forced by her doctor to lie low due to an iron deficiency and too many missed menstrual periods. There's a big match coming up and she has to sit it out. Lounging isn't on her agenda, so Marie embarks on some heavy sex with Bobby and light dashing on her own — as a result she injures her knee and has no choice but to stay laid… up.
Marie starts to have some strange nightmares about babies during the night, and by day begins to wonder about the missing previous occupant of Bobby's snazzy new apartment on Antwerp's Left Bank. (While the paranoia factor isn't quite to the level of Polanski's The Tenant, that's another tip of the horror hat for astute viewers. You'll notice some of The Wicker Man and The Beyond, too.)
After some digging, Marie finds out that the lady who lived there was an architect called Hella (Ruth Becquart) and she disappeared without a trace, leaving her bewildered boyfriend Gilbert (Frank Vercruyssen) at loose ends. Marie and Gilbert team up to find out what happened, but it's really Maria's show — it's hard to imagine actress Kuppens is making her leading debut here, as she so ably carries the movie with grace, strength, and vulnerability. As Maria makes strides in solving the mystery, her ruined knee festers, her womb revolts, and her mind grows foggy. The blood is truly the life in this Paganistic twist on the ruination of purity and goodness.
Left Bank is a strapping psychological fright film, possibly one of the year's 10 best, but there is a quite a sag in the middle and rather an overwrought ending, both of which are a letdown after such a strong beginning and powerful build. Still, the less-is-more score (by electronica artist Eavesdropper and cellist Simon Lenski) and the lush set design, dramatic locations, and symbolism, all bolstered by lustrous, deeply colorful and layered cinematography (by Nicolas Karakatsanis), make this fertile thriller well worth your time.
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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson