Bertrand Bonello - Tiresia (2003)

Review
In "Tiresia," French director Bertrand Bonello translates the Greek myth of Tiresia, the Theban soothsayer blinded by a god, into a modern-day tale. Greek myths generally do not make logical contemporary stories and an odd casting choice by Bonello only adds to the confusion. This head-scratcher of a Competition film is a theatrical no-go outside of the festival circuit and French-speaking territories.

Tiresia the Greek was both man and woman as well as a great beauty. So our Tiresia is a Brazilian transsexual, working as a whore in the furtive wooded outskirts of Paris. A smitten but clearly disturbed young man picks her up, apparently for sex, then takes her to the large, scruffy house where he lives alone. Here he traps her, insisting that she live with him against her will.

Deprived of hormone shots usually given to her by her brother, Tiresia gradually turns into a man, leaving her kidnapper even more troubled and confused. He decides to free her, but before he does he blinds her with a pair of scissors -- a scene that can really empty a theater.

Dumped in the woods, Tiresia is taken in by a young and innocent Catholic woman. As he recovers -- now more a man than a woman -- he suddenly develops the powers of premonition. Locals flocks to him, offering gifts for his prophesies. A priest, troubled by the presence of an oracle in his parish, pays Tiresia a visit.

Now for the odd casting choice: One actor, Laurent Lucas, plays both the kidnapper and the priest. According to press notes, Bonello, the film's writer-director, means for these to be two different characters. It will be a rare audience member that figures that one out. Meanwhile, two Brazilian actors -- a male (Thiago Teles) and a female (Clara Choveaux) -- play Tiresia. As they are similar enough in build, the duality comes through quite effectively.

Only students of Greek mythology will appreciate Bonello's contempo version of Tiresia and even they may wonder what his point is. The film comes wrapped in pretentious mumbo-jumbo about roses and gardens and a woodchuck. A couple of near pornographic scenes pop up out of nowhere -- flashbacks, premonitions, sex dreams, who knows? And the "Allegro" from Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, playing over images of bubbling molten lava, is always nice to hear but, again, all very pointless other than to add to the film's disquieting atmosphere.
Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter, Jan. 01, 2005





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French audio track
+ English, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese subtitles in 3 srt files
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