La Bête
The Beast | La bestia
by
MOVIE CATEGORY
In the near future where artificial intelligence reigns supreme, human emotions have become a threat. To get rid of them, Gabrielle must purify her DNA by going back into her past lives. There, she reunites with Louis, her great love. But the woman is overcome by fear – the fear, perhaps greater, of giving in to love – and an omen seems to announce that catastrophe is now near. It is a mental, physical, sentimental and sensory journey through multiple universes and historical moments (1914, 2014 and 2044), each of them characterized by a general catastrophe connected to another of a personal nature. With La Bête, presented in Venice and winner of 2023 Efebo d’Oro Award, Bonello approaches melodrama and love, without however giving up his well-suited forays into genre cinema, thus creating a very singular portrait of a woman who, by trespassing, almost becomes a sort of documentary on one of the greatest contemporary actresses: an extraordinary Léa Seydoux. A narrative that brings the intimate closer to the spectacular, classicism to modernity, the known to the unknown, the visible to the invisible. A narrative that brings the intimate closer to the spectacular, classicism to modernity, the known to the unknown, the visible to the invisible.
DIRECTORY
Bertrand Bonello was born in 1968. His first feature-length film, Quelque chose d’organique (1998), was presented at the Berlinale (Panorama section). Le pornographe (2001) was presented at the Cannes Critics’ Week and won the FIPRESCI award. Tiresia (2003) was in competition in Cannes. Quinzaine des Réalisateurs presented De la guerre in 2008. L’Apollonide – Souvenirs de la maison close (2011) was part of the main competition in Cannes and was nominated to eight César awards. Saint Laurent (2014), in competition in Cannes as well, represented France at the Oscars and received ten nominations to César awards. After Nocturama (2016), Zombi Child (2019) was screened at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs, and Coma premiered in Berlinale 2022 where it received the FIPRESCI award.
