Skin of Man, Heart of Beast

Strange and curious that a country as cultured and sophisticated as France should export so many films focusing on human brutishness and cruelty, a perfect example of which is HJlPne Angel's debut feature film Skin of Man, Heart of Beast, a quite horrifying story of a provincial family torn apart by violence. After being suspended from the police force, the eldest brother--given to bouts of drunkenness and anger and abandoned by his wife--arrives at the clan's rural home, where his two daughters are staying with his widowed mother along with his youngest brother. Into this already volatile domestic atmosphere comes a third brother after a 15-year absence--an obviously unbalanced fellow who's childlike, creepy and, as it turns out, quite dangerous. What follows is an orgy of violence and death, seen mostly from the perspective of the girls, aged five and thirteen, with the former--a lovely, trusting child--understandably traumatized by the experience. Angel tells this tale with considerable skill--at times recalling Charles Laughton's masterful The Night of the Hunter--but in the end her film, despite generally fine acting and a strong sense of place, remains more unsavory than revelatory. Optional. (F. Swietek)