“With no men in sight and a strong culture of BDSM, the decorated world of The Duke of Burgundy draws on the films from the hey-day of European softcore cinema. The comic sensibilities of Peter Strickland add a touch of humanity to his sensuous utopia, bridging the gap from past to present through absurdity and atypical relationship woes. Reflective surfaces and doppelgangers inhabit this world, but unusually with very little paranoia. In a world where women reign, it seems the fears and preoccupations of women are less fatal and less immediate. The struggles of finding balance and happiness in a relationship are more than enough to add tension and conflict to the film.
“In one extravagant sequence, a sleepwalking incident drops the narrative for a moment to revel in experimental cinema. An homage to Stan Brakhage’s Mothlight overtakes the screen, the silence that Brakhage prefers replaced with buzzing, bouncing moths. A chaotic and almost apocalyptic vision, it seems to reflect the tumultuous inner lives of the women we’re watching: Their carefully groomed and orchestrated lives concealing the power of their desires and the aches of their anxieties.
“The Duke of Burgundy reaches into the lives of women and sheds light on fears and anxieties rarely afforded importance in the cinema. The films that Strickland was drawing on nearly always had the undercurrent of death and murder, the threat of violence was lurking around every corner and in the heart of every dream. The fact that in the portrayal of a sadomasochistic relationship, Strickland focuses on humiliation rather than pain. This distinction integrally divides this world from the one it draws inspiration from. It is why, in spite of its dark moments and passive-aggressive conflicts I refer to it as a Utopia. Violence will not rear its ugly head and dismantle this world, and whether or not you appreciate its tight collared manners, there is a liberation and a poetry in not having to fear for your life.” ~ Justine Smith
No comments:
Post a Comment