Vinyan (2008)

- By Zombie Rob

I was idly flicking through the TV listings with the lackluster enthusiasm of the half-drunk insomniac I am, when I stumbled across this title that I’m embarrassed to admit, I’d never heard of before. The brief synopsis intrigued just enough to give it half an hour and this, along with further internet-based investigation, forms part of the defence of my ignorance. This film has been so badly mis-marketed that it’s had the almost opposite effect that marketing is supposed to have. It seems to have been pitched at the same crowd that thought The Ruins was the best thing ever and any film is judged by the body-count. While some of Vinyan is indeed set in jungles/rainforests, this is where that brainless fucking parallel ends and in my own small way I hope to redress this balance a little.

A couple, Jeanne & Paul, have settled in Thailand where they lost their young son to a tsunami six months before, trying to hang on to the hope that Joshua is still alive while perhaps starting the process of mourning him. They are invited to a fund raiser and they watch a DVD brought back from the deepest Burmese jungle by an aid-worker. The DVD shows the indigenous folk struggling to cope after the aforementioned tsunami as the coastal surge had disrupted their water & food supplies. In the background of the film, Jeanne spots a youngster wearing a Manchester United shirt, exactly what Joshua was wearing on the day he was washed away. Jeanne quickly becomes obsessed, finding out how the aid worker got into these recesses of the Thai/Myanmar jungle and arranging to follow suit. It’s during this odyssey that Paul & Jeanne discover that nothing is as it seems, and upon embarking on this quest to find Joshua they blur the lines between reality, what they desire and the price they have to pay.

Paul & Jeanne are played by the adequate Rufus Sewell and the bewitching Emmanuelle Beart. Beart is so disarmingly beautiful that it’s often easy to forget that she can genuinely act the shit out of anyone that shares the screen with her and dare I say, this might be the best performance I’ve seen her turn in. Her character seems to be constantly at odds with herself. She carries this overwhelming burden of grief and guilt but functions on a day to day basis, while still stoking the dwindling embers of hope. This hope is clearly the only thing keeping her upright and although Paul is supportive, he is far more willing to accept Joshua’s fate and begin a life without him, something that Jeanne quietly resents. It’s only when they start their journey into the jungle and relinquish any control they have over their situation that their relationship becomes perhaps more honest, and inevitably more destructive.

Belgian Fabrice Du Welz has written & directed a truly intelligent & thought-provoking film here and though he could hardly be described as prolific, try & hunt down an earlier (and also very VERY good) offering called “Calvaire”. The locations range from a frenetic & dizzying Phuket through to the silent & sinister jungles of Thailand & Myanmar and they’re so masterfully captured by cinematographer Benoit Debie, who’s previous credits also include “Calvaire” and the milestone of European cinema: “Irreversible”! This film’s pedigree is unquestioned and I’ve heard Vinyan compared to some of the films of David Lynch. Now I don’t think this is a particularly accurate & leading comparison although the ensemble of characters that Paul & Jeanne encounter may invoke the spirit of “Wild At Heart”. Although the story and even the nature of the film bear no relation, I think this has far more to do with something like Jacob’s Ladder in tone, palette and pacing (not that Monsieur Du Welz should be offended by either of these comparisons). The characters are allowed to develop with such integrity during their journey, all within the parameters of the extreme situation and extraordinary places they find themselves in. This gives the film a great humanity and makes it all the more believable.

This is a horror film, don’t doubt that for a second but it’s more than that. It’s a film about loss and the accompanying blame. It’s a film about obsession and desperation, and what a parent would sacrifice of themselves to recover their child and then in turn, hopefully redeem themselves for their parental failing. This is what happens when all hope is lost and although the body is still alive, the mind has surrendered and died.