Assayas's Desert of the Real

By The Highwayman

A techno thriller with high aspirations about the world of online erotica. It's clearly very inspired by Baudrillard; Assayas's desert of the real. “It no longer needs to be rational”, as Baudrillard himself says, “It is a hyperreal”. The plot is almost secondary to the onscreen images; what matters more is the ideas behind it. It doesn't matter who is spying on who, it captures a kind of postmodern hellscape and I'd even argue it's intentionally confusing. Demonlover doesn't pretend to have the answers to the questions it raises, but instead showcases how artificial images can overtake realities, how in the world of late capitalism people will go to extremes in order to remain 'on top'. It was critiqued for the characters being cold and unlikeable; I'd argue this adds to it. Of course they are cold and unlikeable, their jobs rely upon a certain level of detachment. Not one character has a clear code of ethics as they partner with strange bed-fellows in order to make a quick buck.

From the opening shots, of the business suite of an airplane, the focuses of the film are made clear. Transnationality, neo capitalism, anonymous locations - what Deleuze would call 'non spaces' - the presence of women, and the inhumanity behind business relations. These themes continue and they twist and turn and it can get a little confused - who, exactly, is spying on who? Nobody is safe and nobody is innocent. Even as the viewer we're made to feel culpable in the corruption, as we're shown a variety of uncomfortable pornographic images from the animated sequences to the torture porn of the Demonlover website itself.

A bold, brave and I'll say it - misunderstood film. Instead of a narrative it captures the condition of the contemporary world and its effects upon the individual. Even the film is a victim of this corruption, a style that is also a product and a reflection upon the condition of our times. Also, a quick note but I absolutely love Chloe Sevigny.

"To denounce monstrosity is only a form of hypocrisy, because we are all fascinated by the monstrous and distressing. We are all responsible for the times we live in, for better and for worse.” wrote Serge Kaganski for Film Comment