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CHAOS Send This Review to a Friend
Writer-director Coline Serreau's "Chaos," previously shown in the 2002 Rendez-vous with French Cinema series, is a knockout of a film that has much to say about the plight of some women and says it excitingly. The film begins dramatically with a desperate woman being chased and attempting to seek refuge in an automobile in which a man and wife are riding. But Paul, a boorish husband (Vincent Lindon), to the wife's dismay, refuses to open the door and they witness a brutal beating.
Hélène, the wife (Catherine Frot), has been getting fed with up Paul and this incident makes matters worse. She is haunted by what happened on the street and secretly goes to the hospital in which the woman, still in a coma, is being treated. Hélène becomes increasingly involved.
From there "Chaos" grows even more interesting and complex. Malika, the victim (we learn that she's a prostitute), eventually takes center stage and affectingly pours out the story of her life in a sensational performance by Rachida Brakni, who won a César award in France for "most promising actress." She and Hélène, played superbly by Frot, combine forces in the face of danger to wreak havoc on Malika's enemies, and in the process Hélène takes a leap forward as her own person. Serreau keeps the drama vigorous and suspenseful apart from the importance of what it has to say about its women.
"Chaos" works up a strong head of tension and gives us insight on the one hand into problems of bourgeois life, and more importantly, into the entire back story involving Malika. Paul and Hélène are in a mess and their spoiled son Fabrice (Aurélien Wiik) is turning out to be irresponsible in his relationship with women, in certain ways reflecting his father. But with Malika, the problems run deeper. We learn about how her father sold her to an Algerian businessman, which led to her being turned into a prostitute.
The plight of women as depicted in her family life is horrendous. But Malika is a fighter. Knowing how to take advantage of sex appeal, she works out a scheme to get even and free her sister from the same fate. "Chaos" has a theme of women bonding, but it isn't a pedantic one. It stems from the depicted experiences of women thrown together by circumstance.
The handling of all of these elements is immensely entertaining, both on the thriller level and with humorous, witty character studies and clever maneuvers to outsmart the villains. Serreau's script is colorful and fast-moving and the photography under the direction of Jean-François Robin is eye-catching. A New Yorker Films release.
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