FILM-FORWARD.COMReviews of Recent Independent, Foreign, & Documentary Films in Theaters and DVD/Home Video
AFTER THE LIFE
The daily household routine of Pascal (Gilbert Melki) mothering his morphine-addicted wife,
Agnès (Dominique Blanc), comes crashing down in the final chapter of director Lucas
Belvaux’s The
Trilogy. The quietly handsome cop is caught between pursuing an escaped
convict, Bruno (the main character
in the first film where he’s literally On
The Run), and a drug lord. As it
turns out, Bruno’s next vengeful target also supplies Pascal with morphine for
Agnès’s habit. However, Pascal’s supply is cut off until Bruno is caught.
Having gone days
without her drugs, a strung-out Agnès hits the streets to score. Through
a
coincidence that is entirely believable for those who have seen On The
Run, Bruno
comes to her aid, eventually saving her life. Grateful to Bruno, and
reproofing Pascal for letting her down, she offers aid and comfort to the
outlaw
even as the manhunt’s body count rises. It’s no wonder that Pascal is drawn to
Cécile (Ornella Muti),
Agnès’s friend and colleague, one of the main characters in An Amazing
Couple, the series’
second film.
A huge part of the pleasure of this film is the audience’s foreknowledge of
the
characters and relationships established in the other two films. However,
After The Life does stand on its own, even though many characters, such
as Bruno,
that are
seen in the other films are not as fully developed here. That said, there
are a few puzzling plot holes, some of which may not be noticeable at first;
such
as, why would Pascal allow Cécile, with whom he has fallen in love, to
confront alone a presumed drug dealer? And there are a few redundant scenes of
Pascal
broodily figuring out
his next step and the gasping Agnès suffering through withdrawals. With
its
many repeated scenes, overlapping storylines, and shifting points of view,
The
Trilogy’s narrative structure may be considered a gimmick, but it’s one
that is
thoroughly compelling and wonderfully satisfying as all the pieces of the
puzzle
fall into place. KT
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