Few are those movies I've seen that so emphatically push down any strong, clear sense of narrative. There is indeed a narrative here, but it is loose, and broad, even as the specifics are many and joyously devious. 'Successive slidings of pleasure,' or 'Glissements progressifs du plaisir,' is effectively the portrait of a deeply troubled and twisted young woman. What, here, is reality? What is her perception of it, or her imagination of it, or her deliberately misleading description of it? Whatever small thread there may be that ties together successive scenes, most imagery feels so wildly detached from one moment to the next that one might reasonably question if there is truly any rhyme or reason to it at all. And still this is cohesive and whole, however wildly abstruse it may get - and peculiarly mesmerizing.
There's a sense of exploitation to the feature in the substantial nudity, suggested sex acts, and the protagonist's lurid dialogue, yet it is pointedly muted, and rendered almost abstract by the intensely contorted storytelling. Similarly, there's a sense of horror promulgated in the suggested violence, the devilish manipulation or deception of other characters, and the gnarly, convoluted tangle of the prisoner's psychology, but this too is mangled, broken and reformed into only the most curious of shapes. Above all, 'Successive slidings of pleasure' is 100% an art film: imagery and scenes constructed with the same creative eye and mind as a painter at a canvas, or a sculptor before an untamed slab of stone; storytelling informed by the lofty pretension of a poet whose every word and phrase must have hidden meaning (or does it?), whose very arrangement of lines in a precise structure surely portend something more (or do they?). Are there Big Ideas lurking behind the assemblage here? Or is it "simply" as it seems, a web of nigh incomprehensible sex, violence, dark fantasy, and finessed craftsmanship?
I've never seen anything quite like this, and I suppose the average viewer hasn't, either. The appeal is likely minimal except for those open to all the wide, weird variety cinema has to offer. Yet it's plainly beautiful, fascinating, and jarring, all at once. The cinematography, the editing, the writing and direction; the production design, the art direction, the costume design, the hair and makeup; the music, the extraordinary cast, their splendid performances of poise and nuance - everything here is bent towards masterful, subtle artistry, manifesting an odd atmosphere of tension and unease even as the presentation could hardly be more dreamlike. And it's exquisite - bold, visionary, gorgeous, fabulous.
It's a lot to take in and process at every turn, but for those willing and able to actively engage with such ambitious, grandiose fare, it's exceptional, and highly rewarding. Only by chance did I stumble onto this, but I could hardly be happier that I did: 'Successive slidings of pleasure' is an utter delight.
