Nature Morte
Review by Peter Syslo

NATURE MORTE (2006 UK ) is one of the latest DVD offerings from Salvation Films/Ryko Distribution (www.salvation-films.com). I was pleasantly surprised by the film because it turned out to be an unconventional, film noir experience, which is much in the darkly erotic vein of Salvation’s other offerings. To best describe the picture is that it is a cross between THE NINTH GATE, THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY and CRADLE OF FEAR, with slight elements of HOSTEL or SAW.

NATURE MORTE is directed by Paul Burrows and it stars Troy McFadden, Carole Derrien, Laurent Guyon, Jeso Vial, John Lamond, Michelle Esclapez, Romain Roll, and Morrigan Hel (that is an awesome name).

The film is about a man, Mr. Davenport, who is an author and an art expert. He wrote a book about an artist, Stevenson, who painted pictures of women while he tortured and killed them. Mr. Davenport is approached by the authorities to help investigate a Stevenson painting that may be a fraud (hence it is like THE NINTH GATE). Davenport travels to Thailand in search of answers and to investigate an eccentric painter, Luc, whose painting style is similar to the murderous Stevenson. Davenport gets deeply involved in the “seedy” underground world of art dealing, he notices the connection between painter, painting, and subject, and he begins to question his own sanity as he learns the truth.

I have to say that I enjoyed NATURE MORTE because it was a movie with many layers. I don’t think that it is really comparable to something like HOSTEL, rather, it is more along the lines of THE NINTH GATE or any other Polanski, Kubrick, or Lynch film. It is not a “torture film” (I hate using that term); it is more of a psychological thriller with gothic themes. Although, it was a little slow to start and there were numerous details to keep track of in the beginning, it paid off in the end and it was almost like several movies rolled into one. Largely, the film is a contrast between the tropical “corruption” of Thailand and the classically gothic atmosphere of the London under ground. This contrast worked well and really sets up the gothic, film noir ending which was very satisfying.

The film is an example of the, “if you dig deep, this is what you’ll get” idea and it is an exploration of the nature of human obsession (whether it be with paintings or people). I think that I liked the gothic element best, even though it was a strange direction for the film. However, it all seemed to make sense, somehow, and the end result was almost an homage to classic horror movies of the 1920s-1940s (including a sizzling gothic/erotic scene towards the end). In short, the film satisfies a variety of tastes and it is one of the most interesting foreign films that I have seen, lately.

Cutting to the chase: NATURE MORTE is a stylish film that explores and touches upon many genres. It is more of an intellectual and atmospheric movie which is strongly supported by an involved storyline. It’s a very thought-provoking film, coupled with surreal imagery which seems to hit all of the senses. The camerawork enhances the dream-like quality of the scenes because it is on the border of independent and higher budget cinematics. The best way that I could describe “the look” is that it is somewhere between CRADLE OF FEAR and WOLF CREEK . Regarding the acting, most of the performances were really good, with the standouts being the women (and not just for their looks). The female actors really brought this film home and really gave it that gothic edge, which worked beautifully in wrapping up the pict ure. So, if you like film noir, darkly erotic entertainment, or foreign horror films, then NATURE MORTE is definitely worth checking out. In fact, I think that I’ll be watching this again soon, because there is so much to take in.