Pacifiction (2022)

Pacifiction (2022). Pacifiction: Directed by Albert Serra. With Benoît Magimel, Pahoa Mahagafanau, Marc Susini, Matahi Pambrun. On an island in French Polynesia, the Haut-Commissaire, a man with a turbulent naturalness and high diplomacy, lives between the highest echelons of politics and the lowest social stratum of his co-citizens. Conflict as a way of life will lead him to take reckless decisions against his political status.

“This is a truly boring film. Itu0026#39;s long, seemed pointless, had scenes that went on forever to no good purpose, had essentially no characters to speak of, and made little sense. I can enjoy long, leisurely paced films, like u0026quot;The Traveling Playersu0026quot; or u0026quot;Satantango,u0026quot; but there has to be a reason to be patient and a payoff for doing so. There is neither here.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAt the screening I attended, the director, beforehand, said that the last 45 minutes was really special. That was a bait and switch, since they were just like the rest of the film. If anyone goes into this film expecting anything at all like a thriller, they will be disappointed, and disappointed for a rather long time.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe director, speaking afterwards, said he wanted to avoid cliche. In one respect, he failed miserably. The dialog, I believe, was improvised by the actors, rather than being scripted. As a result, it was banal, repetitive, and pointless. There is no more tedious cliche than weak improvised dialog.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eItu0026#39;s common for one reviewing a long film to say something like u0026quot;thereu0026#39;s a good 90 minute film in there.u0026quot; Here, thereu0026#39;s a mediocre ten minute travelogue in there. There are some pretty shots of Polynesia, and a good surfing sequence, but you pay a heavy price to get to those, and if youu0026#39;re willing to watch a long, weak film to see some nice shots of Tahiti, youu0026#39;re better off with the 60s version of u0026quot;Mutiny on the Bounty.u0026quot;u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAfter I got home from the screening, I cleaned my catsu0026#39; litter boxes. I found that experience both more entertaining and more intellectually stimulating than u0026quot;Pacifiction.u0026quot;”