First let me state that I am a huge fan of foreign cinema - have been for decades, so should you be dismayed by the comments that follow, write me off as a philistine at your own peril.
I chanced upon this movie and reading the back cover notes on the DVD: 'Nathalie Granger is an elliptical, elusory story about the world of women in which dull domestic ritual masks an undercurrent of lurking violence', I thought, OK, I'll take a chance. Though the director is also credited as the writer, there is decidedly more writing in the liner notes on the DVD. 'Dull domestic ritual?' If that includes repeatedly walking trance-like in and out of rooms (though sometimes it's just the room sans a life form) for no particular reason, staring off into the distance for interminable periods of time, a lack of what humans have come to know and embrace as conversation, so much so that it could be described as monasterial, the comatose deportment of all but 1 of the 7 characters, a cavernous void where a story might reside, well, then I'd say that the description hits the nail on the head - which I suppose, would account for the undercurrent of violence. Overall, the film lacks the sort of cohesion that would bind you to the experience, and comes across as a series of scenes without narrative or resolution of any kind. While I do appreciate minimalist cinema, this takes 'elusory' to as close to infinity as is possible with celluloid. So, if you are looking to for the kind of cinematic experience that is as riveting as staring at an unpainted wall, then this is your film! Though for me, I would like my 83 minutes back, please.
I chanced upon this movie and reading the back cover notes on the DVD: 'Nathalie Granger is an elliptical, elusory story about the world of women in which dull domestic ritual masks an undercurrent of lurking violence', I thought, OK, I'll take a chance. Though the director is also credited as the writer, there is decidedly more writing in the liner notes on the DVD. 'Dull domestic ritual?' If that includes repeatedly walking trance-like in and out of rooms (though sometimes it's just the room sans a life form) for no particular reason, staring off into the distance for interminable periods of time, a lack of what humans have come to know and embrace as conversation, so much so that it could be described as monasterial, the comatose deportment of all but 1 of the 7 characters, a cavernous void where a story might reside, well, then I'd say that the description hits the nail on the head - which I suppose, would account for the undercurrent of violence. Overall, the film lacks the sort of cohesion that would bind you to the experience, and comes across as a series of scenes without narrative or resolution of any kind. While I do appreciate minimalist cinema, this takes 'elusory' to as close to infinity as is possible with celluloid. So, if you are looking to for the kind of cinematic experience that is as riveting as staring at an unpainted wall, then this is your film! Though for me, I would like my 83 minutes back, please.