Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani's 'Laissez bronzer les cadavres' analyzed in artpress cabinet of curiosities

Jean-Jacques Manzanera launches a new series on artpress, 'Cabinet de curiosités,' focusing on rare and singular films. The first episode examines Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani's 2017 film 'Laissez bronzer les cadavres' (92 min). The film opens with a striking aesthetic manifesto: red letters on black announce 'Friday July 16 10:15 am,' followed by gunshots, a sun-drenched western-like hill, and rapid montage of a revolver barrel and an eye. The title appears in animated primary colors. The film stars Elina Löwensohn as Luce, an eccentric painter who invites men to her hamlet in the Gard. She hosts her lover and three friends, plus alcoholic writer Max Bernier (Marc Barbé). The four rob an armored car and hide the money at the summer retreat. Two police officers arrive, setting up a baroque, bloody narrative. Cattet and Forzani, known for 'Amer' (2010), 'O is for Orgasm' (2012), and 'The Strange Color of Your Body's Tears' (2014), reinvent genre cinema with eruptive formal systems. The film adapts Jean-Patrick Manchette and Jean-Pierre Bastid's 1971 novel. Cinematographer Manu Dacosse contributes a painterly camera, evoking Matisse and David Hockney. The sound design is meticulously crafted, with every noise spatialized. The series aims to highlight overlooked recent cinematic propositions.