SLIFF 2017 Review – SLACK BAY

SLACK BAY screens as part of the 26th Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival on Saturday, November 11 at 2:45 PM at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinemas. For ticket information click HERE. it also screens at the same venue on Sunday, November 12 at 5:15 PM. For ticket information click HERE.

In the mood for a frantic fast-paced farce filled with slapstick with a French flavor? Then pack your bags, or at least grab a bag of popcorn, and escape to the sandy beaches and rolling waves of SLACK BAY. It’s set in 1910, just as modern technology was creeping in via the “horseless carriage”. The story focuses on two families at the opposite ends of the economic spectrum. We first meet the poor but proud Bruforts headed by patriarch L’Eternel who make their main living as oyster and mussel farmers. But in order to make ends meet they also operate a ferry for the vacationing “swells” to cross a wide shallow stretch of water. L’Eternel and his tall, lanky teenage son Ma Lout either shuttle folks across in a canoe or carry individuals, “across the threshold”-style to the dry land. However, they’ve got another way to put…ahem…food on the table (a most unusual diet, indeed). One of the families that make use of their ferry service is the Van Peteghams who occupy a swanky vacation home high in the hills. Their head of the household is the doddering Andre (Fabrice Luchini) along with his jittery wife Isabelle. Their two teenage daughters, Gaby and Blanche are there along with cousin Billie, who alternates male and female attire (a flowing dress in the morning, a crisp suit and tie in the afternoon). Their routine is upending by the arrival of more relatives (they’re a really, REALLY close family). First is Isabelle’s wildly eccentric brother Christian, followed by Andre’s melodramatic sister Aude (Juliette Binoche), mother of Billie. Not far from the estate, the local authorities, led by corpulent Inspector Machin, are investigating several missing Bay visitors. Add to the mix a romance between Billie and Ma Lout, and the stage is set for complete comic chaos.

Several different story threads are kept in motion like a vaudevillian’s spinning plates by director/ screenwriter Bruno Dumont. The surly, quick-to-violence Bruforts snipe and squawk while stuck in squalor. Meanwhile the boorish Van Peteghams berate their servants and wreak havoc while trying to have fun (sand-sailing for one). Literally bouncing between them is the husky Machin who gasps and wheezes before rolling down inclines like a careening boulder. Luchini’s Andre is stuffier, stammering take on the “upper class twit” from the Python gang. And Binoche gets to cut loose in a “go for broke” comic performance full of fluttering swoons and wild-eyed mugging and shrieks. The calamities cruise toward a startling climax which literally takes flight into the realm of far-flung fantasy. For those who think French cinema is oh so somber and serious, the loopy SLACK BAY should make them change their (loony) tune.