Alleluia has a creepy opening. We see a woman,
Gloria, giving a sponge bath to a naked man. It takes a moment before we
realize the man is dead. And then she looks directly at the camera, directly at
us. It’s brief, but long enough to be unsettling. The film is divided into four
sections, each about a certain woman, though Gloria is key in all sections, not
just the first which bears her name. Gloria is a single mother who is looking
at men’s profiles online with a friend, the friend urging her to contact one of
them. The camera remains on the women’s faces, never cutting away to the
computer screen, which is great. This is a movie that really knows that its
characters are what is important, and the camera rarely strays from them.
We are then introduced to Michel, the man that Gloria has
contacted, who is practicing what he’ll say in the mirror. He has a photo of
Gloria attached to the mirror, which is a bit creepy considering they haven’t
yet had their first date. But soon he lights candles for a ritual, saying, “Let
Gloria succumb to my charms,” which is much eerier. And on the date, he
says just what he’s rehearsed. Gloria takes him home that night, and in the
morning when she’s called to work, she leaves her young daughter in his care, a
demonstration of her trust, or perhaps her foolishness. But it is for her a
demonstration of her love, for she has completely fallen for this man. Even
after learning that he’d lied to her, and that he makes his living by seducing
women, she wants to stay with him, even to help him. Michel suffers from
migraines, and it partly feels as if Gloria is eager to finally care for a
living man rather than for the dead. She looks so happy, and he is clearly
intrigued. “I’ve never felt so good in my life,” Gloria tells her
friend, before basically abandoning her daughter to her.
So then the remaining sections of the film are each named
after a woman that Michel seduces, while Gloria poses as his sister. But how
long can she possibly be able to watch her man with other women? Her obsession
with him borders on madness, to the point of seeing the world outside of the
two of them as being dangerous, populated by people who have stopped dreaming,
as she says at one point, while standing over the naked corpse of a woman.
Gloria is at times like a child, throwing tantrums and so on. She’s also
entertained like one, as Michel delights her by making faces for her. But we
know she’s much more dangerous than a cranky child.
I love how this film is shot, with lots of close-ups,
letting faces do much of the work of conveying the story and the character’s
emotions. Plus, because it keeps us so close to Gloria and Michel, we’re never
able to get too comfortable. We’re not allowed that distance from which we
could more objectively view them, at least not for long. Alleluia is an
intelligent, creepy, horror/drama, with excellent performances by Lola Dueñas
as Gloria and Laurent Lucas as Michel.
Special Features
This disc contains quite a lot of bonus material,
including a commentary track by director Fabrice du Welz. And in case you’re
wondering, yes, it’s in English, and at the beginning he apologizes for what he
calls his “bad English.” Interestingly, he talks about commentary tracks
themselves, saying he feels they’re not necessary. He talks about the real
story of the lonely hearts killers, and about two of the earlier films based on
that story. He also talks about shooting on film versus video, about the score
and the cast. This track was recorded for Music Box Films.
It’s Wonderful When You’re In Love is a short film
from director Fabrice du Welz, about a sad, odd, disturbed woman who is alone
at home, putting up balloons for her own birthday. She’s hired a man to help
her celebrate, but then gets upset when he insists on getting paid. And she may
not be the weirdest character in this film. I love the twisted sense of humor
in this film. The moment during dinner when she laughs is perfect. This
director seems to have a soft spot for lonely, homicidal women.
The disc also contains an episode of Home Cinema
hosted by Fabrice du Welz, in which he talks with director Jaco Van Dormael
about The Brand New Testament and his earlier work. A section of this
episode also deals with Alleluia, with interviews with Lola Dueñas,
Fabrice du Welz and Laurent Lucas.
Shooting Alleluia offers a behind-the-scenes look
at the film, with interviews with Fabrice du Welz and Laurent Lucas. This is
approximately ten and a half minutes. There are also seventeen minutes of
deleted scenes, and interviews with cast members Lola Dueñas, Laurent Lucas and
Helena Noguerra, as well as with production designer Manu de Meulemeester. The
special features also include the film’s trailer.
There is also a booklet with information on the real
couple, as well as an interview with Fabrice du Welz and several photos.
Alleluia was directed by Fabrice du Welz, and was
released on Blu-ray and DVD on October 6, 2015 through Doppelganger Releasing.
The film is presented in its original French, with English subtitles.
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