Pacifiction

Taking place on Tahiti, "Pacifiction" takes a long time to set the story in motion, though director Albert Serra gives us some images to think about. The images are beautiful and the camera dwells on many sets far too long. When I finally got to the end of the film I was tired and regretted that I could not feel as I should.

Well, here is the story: The High Commissioner of the Republic of France, De Roller, has little power but tries to keep peace on the island, when some native representatives inform him of a rumor, that nuclear testing is returning to the region.

Of course, everyone is upset by this idea, though no one seems to know anything in particular. But as De Roller starts to investigate, he finds a number of strange things going on, a group of sailors plus their captain, a Portuguese visitor who's passport has been stolen, foreign shady characters are popping up, a submarine has been sighted and so on.

The more De Roller pokes around, the less he can make any sense out of it but he begins to believe that there is truth in the rumor. In between he manages to coach a local dance group for their performance at his favorite night club, where he also chats with Shanna, a transsexual. Shanna has high hopes to become the secretary of the Commissioner, and De Roller certainly gives him reason to think so by taking him along on some of his visits. This relationship does not seem to be sexual, but the film gives no explanation to what it is that draws De Roller to Shanna.

I don't want to go into more details, but the film is certainly too long, I would say by an hour! Running 2:45 right now, there is no reason not to cut it down, some sidelines don't really advance the story. But despite the length, we hardly see any Tahitians who are not wearing costumes and perform for tourists. Which I don't think is close to reality.

Hype has blinded me again, folks... I love slow burn thrillers like The Day of The Jackal, where the actions are shown in the movie step by step, but without losing its suspense and intrigue. I knew that Pacifiction would be slow... but not THAT slow!

This was a huge dissapointment, almost 3 hours of nothing. Serra is nothing more than a pretentious and a egomaniac director, and this movie shows that.

Pure boredom, there wasn't a mystery or even a bit of suspense to keep watching this thing... nothing.

The visuals are the reason why I gave this film a 5/10. Too good for a waste of film this is.

The visuals were so good... that led me to watch this atrocity to good cinema.

God... I'm so angry right now. This is the kind of trash that makes people go watch Marvel instead, the same stupid movie everyday instead of searching for something new and original. Because of the fear of finding a pretentious and boring film like this.

Serras thriller is visually exuberant as it is subtle and minimalist in terms of plot. Making good on its lead motto that 'politics is like a nightclub', for almost three hours the viewer sees barely more than Benoît Magimel in his role as bon vivant politician De Moller philandering around the island of French Polynesia, lending an ear to its manifold inhabitants, drinking, feasting, and preaching about his limited administrative role in the grand order of things, interrupted only by stunning episodes of visual allegories on geopolitics. Yet, I found watching De Moller in his ambiguous social interactions infinitely charming and astonishingly engrossing. On its allegorical level I found this movie truly mesmerizing - and I am not easily mesmerized. It is a gloomy thriller about nuclear balance of power, about ants in a battle of elephants, but only behind the curtain and only the abstract. It will therefore appear slow and uneventful to the ones who are looking for some concrete down-to-earth action.

One of those movies that has raving critic reviews but where the audience just doesn't seem to like it.

The movie didn't work for me. I enjoyed the beautful locations and the mood. The acting was good. But the plot just didn't go anywhere. Some scenes seemed to go on forever without adding anything to the movie. I kept up for about an hour and then I just started daydreaming.

When I left the cinema, someone was complaining to me in the bathroom that it was such a bad movie. Another movie-goer put it nicely when walking out the doors: "well, this was 3 hours of my life I'm never getting back".

Having seen Liberte, I was somewhat ready for the longeurs in this, and the prioritisation of mood over drama and plot.

However, there is a plot of sorts (and even several groups of "plotters" if you go along with the nuclear context and the local determinists) and even a conclusion - no matter how much one might be hoping for something more dramatic. Whether the improvisation-heavy dialogue helps is a moot point.

I've never been to the island in question, but can easily visualise the it's-always-cocktail-time mood and surfeit of ennui that comes across here, making me sorry for everyone trapped in this environment.

Not recommended, as such, but interesting.