''Bastards'' (french: Les Salauds) is a 2013 thriller film directed by

Claire Denis Claire Denis (; born 21 April 1946) is a French film director and screenwriter. Her feature film ''Beau Travail'' (1999) has been called one of the greatest films of the 1990s, as well as of all time. Other acclaimed works include '' Trouble Ev ...

. It stars Vincent Lindon and

Chiara Mastroianni Chiara Charlotte Mastroianni (born 28 May 1972) is a French actress and singer. She is the daughter of Marcello Mastroianni and Catherine Deneuve. Early life Mastroianni was born to French actress Catherine Deneuve and Italian actor Marcello Ma ...

. It was screened in the

Un Certain Regard (, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films w ...

section at the

2013 Cannes Film Festival The 66th Cannes Film Festival took place in Cannes, France, from 15 to 26 May 2013. Steven Spielberg was the head of the jury for the main competition. New Zealand film director Jane Campion was the head of the jury for the Cinéfondation and ...

Plot

Marco Silvestri is an oil tanker captain who works abroad and now has little contact with his sister, who is married to his best friend, Jacques, in Paris. He is divorced and his two daughters live with their mother in the Vendee. His sister, Sandra, asks him to return after her husband commits suicide, which he does, giving up his job. It emerges that Sandra and her husband’s women’s shoe manufacturing business, inherited from the father of Marco and Sandra (Marco gave them his share of the inheritance), faces bankruptcy. Also, Sandra’s daughter, Justine, has a history of drugs, alcohol and self-harming and is in hospital with internal injuries from sexual abuse and torture. The doctor is considering an operation but Justine wants to leave the hospital. Also the rape of his niece, Justine. Sandra blames an off the books major creditor, Edouard Laporte, a wealthy businessman, for her husband’s death, although Marco notes that the product quality was poor, and feels guilty for allowing Laporte to use her daughter as a sexual object. Marco moves into an apartment in the same block as Laporte, in a smart area, and has an affair with Laporte’s younger wife, Raphaëlle. He leaves his flat unfurnished and sells his watch, life insurance policy and car to pay the other creditors. Sandra gives him their father’s handgun and says that he will need it. Sandra arranges for them to visit a farm building used for sex parties. After making a large payment, the pimp and prostitute who organise the parties let him in and he finds a bloodied

corncob A corncob, also called corn cob, cob of corn or corn on the cob, is the central core of an ear of corn (also known as maize). It is the part of the ear on which the kernels grow. The ear is also considered a "cob" or "pole" but it is not ful ...

. He assaults the manager. Later, two men attack him outside his apartment. He attempts to ambush Laporte, but Laporte does not appear. Justine runs away from hospital. Sandra did not want the police to be involved but they later find Justine wandering naked. She escapes again, hiding with the sex party manager and the prostitute. The sex manager sells Marco images of her arriving at the sex club with Edouard and her father. Later, Justine crashes their car, killing them and badly injuring herself. Discovering Raphaëlle and Marco are sleeping together, Edouard leaves her, taking their young son, saying he does not mind the cheating but does not want their son involved with Marco and his family. When he returns to collect some of his son's things, Marco tries to stop him. Marco is shot and killed with his own gun by Raphaëlle. Sandra receives a video in the mail which she watches with Justine's doctor. It is a recording of a sex party involving Edouard, Justine, her father, and a prostitute. The tape shows a fully clothed Edouard watching while Justine's naked father looms over her, holding a corn cob.

Cast

Production

The film's title derives from Akira Kurosawa's film ''

The Bad Sleep Well is a 1960 Japanese crime mystery film directed by Akira Kurosawa. It was the first film to be produced under Kurosawa's own independent production company. It was entered into the 11th Berlin International Film Festival. The film stars Toshiro ...

'', whose French title ''Les salauds dorment en paix'' translates literally to ''Bastards Sleep in Peace''. For the film,

also took inspiration from

William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where Faulkner spent most o ...

's novel ''

Sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a sa ...

''. It is Denis' first feature film that was shot digitally. Filming took place in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

over the course of 8 weeks.

Release

The film had its world premiere in the

section at the

on 21 May 2013. It was released in France on 7 August 2013, and in Germany on 26 December 2013.

Reception

On review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 65% based on 48 reviews, and an average rating of 6.6/10. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 69 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yo ...

'' ranked the film #99 on its list of the best films of the 2010s.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bastards 2013 films 2013 thriller films 2010s French-language films 2010s English-language films French thriller films German thriller films Films directed by Claire Denis Films set in Paris Films shot in Paris Incest in film 2010s French films 2010s German films