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THEY CAME BACK
A triumph of “quiet horror,” this subdued French scare fest is one of the most effective zombie films of recent years. True, not a whole lot actually happens herein, but the film’s subtle creepiness makes for a one-of-a-kind experience in disquiet.
The Package
THEY CAME BACK (LES REVENANTS; 2004), the directorial debut of Robin
Campillo (best known previous to this film for co-scripting the international
sensation TIME OUT), eschews the flesh eating and intestine pulling of
traditional living dead flicks in favor of a more surreal, even satirical
approach. Thus the film is closer in tone to Abel Gance’s classic
J’ACCUSE! or
Andrei Tarkovsky’s SOLARIS than THE NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and its innumerable
offspring.
THEY CAME BACK was a fairly big budgeted affair
featuring several top-flight French actors (including Geraldine Pailhas, from
5x2 and THE ADVERSARY, and Jonathan Zaccai, of THE BEAT THAT MY HEART SKIPPED),
and met with some success on the film festival circuit. Of course, I’m sure
that will mean little to most stateside horror buffs, who don’t like any
variation in their zombie movies; there were numerous complaints on horror
internet boards, after all, about the “evolved” zombies of George Romero’s
LAND
OF THE DEAD and Joe Dante’s MASTERS OF HORROR segment (from an Ain’t-it-Cool-News
talkback: “I care not about politics in horror, just give me some sick gore!”),
so I can only imagine what those complainers would make of the walking dead in
this film.
The Story
One morning, in a small French town, the dead begin to rise: seemingly
without reason, zombies flood the area in search of their loved ones. Officials
hastily set up a dormitory to detain and house the dead folks, many of whom are
met by family members who take their deceased relatives back to their homes. As
the days stretch on many of the deaders are reintegrated into their old lives
and even rejoin the work force. However, it’s clear from the start these
zombies aren’t exactly their old selves: they don’t speak much and have a
tendency to stare into space. More ominously, they spend their nights taking
lengthy walks and set up a meeting area from which the living are excluded.
Thermal cameras mounted on balloons are loosed so authorities can differentiate
the dead from the living (through such cameras dead people emit a uniformly grey
tone while live ones are more brightly colored) and keep an eye on the zombies’
activities.
In the meantime Rachel, a grief-stricken young woman, is dealing with
Mathieu, her deceased beau, who like all the other dead people in town has come
back to life. He moves back into their apartment, but things are immediately
different between the two. Mathieu is now a dour zombie, for one thing, and his
suicide is an obstacle he and Rachel never had to deal with before. Not to
mention the fact that he goes for long walks each night and meets with his
fellow deaders, who are clearly up to no good...
The Direction
Robin Campillo took a big chance in ignoring standard scary movie
iconography in his directorial debut. Sometimes that makes for interesting
films, but it can just as often result in a self indulgent muddle (try sitting
through the French pretension-fest SOMBRE, an “avant-garde” serial killer flick
that literally put me to sleep). Thankfully, THEY CAME BACK definitely falls
into the former category: it’s subtle, intriguing and has much real-world
significance, but is still very much a HORROR MOVIE with all the trimmings (an
aspect many mainstream critics have naturally played down in reviewing the
film).
Certainly one can read any number of meanings into the
film both personal and political--the zombies as metaphors for the lingering
effects of grief, or as representations of the way society treats its second
class citizens--but I think it works best as a straightforward exercise in
otherworldly apprehension. (And anyway, George Romero has all-but cornered the
market in socially conscious zombie films!) Much of the film’s power comes from
the creepiness of its atmosphere, the sheer wrongness of people who
should be worm food walking upright and rubbing shoulders with the living. The
effect is enhanced by unshowy direction and eerie, disquieting music by Martin
Wheeler. For those willing to give themselves over to the film’s unique
rhythms, it’s an unforgettable experience.
Vital Statistics
THEY CAME BACK (LES
REVENANTS)
Haut and Court
Director: Robin Campillo
Producers: Carole Scotta, Caroline Benjo
Screenplay: Robin Campillo, Brigitte Tijou
Cinematography: Jeanne Lapoirie
Editing: Robin Campillo
Cast: Geraldine Pailhas, Jonathan Zaccai, Frederic Pierrot, Catherine Samie,
Victor Garrivier, Djemel Barek, Marie Matheron, Saady Delas