Mauvais Sang

The second feature from French filmmaker Leos Carax is a quirky mix of caper film, sci-fi thriller, and romantic tragedy set in some indeterminate future when an insidious AIDS-like virus is afflicting the young. The 1986 motion picture stars Denis Lavant as Alex, a street hustler, amateur magician, and one-time burglar who is enlisted by over-the-hill gangster Marc (Michel Piccoli) to help engineer an elaborate heist of a new vaccine for the pathogen. A radiant Juliette Binoche is Anna, Marc's much younger mistress, a beauty with whom Alex falls instantly in love. Alex, the lovesick puppy, and Anna, the magical muse, are romantic innocents in a future where Halley's Comet heats up the night sky and a corrupt multinational corporation holds the cure to the viral plague but makes it available only to the wealthy. The heart of Mauvais Sang lies in the chemistry between Lavant and Binoche (Carax reunited them for his later movie Lovers on the Bridge) and in the cinematic charge that Carax creates in every frame, with luscious blasts of glowing colors, explosive energy, and dynamic style. Newly restored and remastered for DVD and Blu-ray, extras include the new feature-length documentary Mr. X on the director, as well as outtakes, and a deleted scene. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)