AFTER BLUE/PARADIS SALE (DIRTY PARADISE)

France, 2021, 129 minutes, Colour.

Elina Lowensohn, Paula-Luna Breitenfelder, Vimala Pons, Agata Buzek.

Directed by Bertrand Mandico.

A bizarre experience! An arthouse experience which will not attract the average audience.

After Blue is the name of a planet. The subtitle the film states that it is a Dirty Planet. Earth has failed, is rotten, men dying out, the women escaping to this faraway planet for a new existence. Explanations are given of how the women can be inseminated to continue the line. In terms of relationships and sexual experience, the film has many lesbian moments.

The most striking thing about the film, apart from the bizarre plot, is the impact of the sets and decor, a range of locations for the dirty planet, deserts, the sea, mountains, narrow passes, dark caverns… And all filmed with a different kind of colour palette from most films.

As regards the plot, as it progresses, many will start to think of American Westerns, journeys and quests, the role of the gunfighters, the bounty hunters in pursuit of criminals.

And that is the case here. The film introduces us to a teenager, a loner, Roxy, who is ignored by three teenagers, mocking her. She discovers a buried body, a woman, hairy arm, emaciated, and digs her out of the soil. This is a Polish refugee to After Blue, with her Polish name abbreviated (with a nod to the singer) Kate Bush. She offers Roxy three wishes, the first to destroy her friends who immediately suffer and die – later to appear in the quest, following and tormenting Roxy.

Roxy is blamed for what has happened, and her mother, Zora, the community’s hairdresser, having to take the blame, losing all her custom. The main part of the film is the commissioning of Roxy and Zora to go out in pursuit of Kate Bush and bring her back to justice.

There are many eerie episodes on the way, contact with strange locals, an attractive but sinister companion on the way, Sternberg, attracted to Roxy, protecting, causing difficulties…

And, finally, there is the confrontation between the travellers and Kate Bush herself, trying to be persuasive, justifying herself, but the two women with their guns, Gucci guns, building up to a dramatic climax.

A specialist cinematic experience.