‘You Go to My Head’ Film Review: Visually Sumptuous Import Plays Like a Feature-Length Perfume Ad
Writer-director Dimitri de Clercq doesn’t seem to have much to say, but his movie always looks great, at least
Elizabeth Weitzman | February 14, 2020 @ 8:00 AM
Last Updated: February 14, 2020 @ 9:33 AM
First Run Features
If you hired an independent filmmaker to create a perfume ad, and then turned that ad into a full-length movie, you’d probably get something that looks a lot like Dimitri de Clercq’s directorial debut, “You Go to My Head.”
The ominous score and stark visual beauty do initially suggest a noirish romantic thriller. But the more opportunities director-producer-co-writer de Clercq takes to shoot Belgian model Delfine Bafort in various states of languorous undress, the more it starts to feel like we’re watching a vanity wish-fulfillment fantasy.
Whose wishes are fulfilled, exactly? Well, anyone who wants an extended opportunity to gaze at a professional model nude in a shower, bed or pool, certainly. But also those of Jake (Serbian actor Svetozar Cvetkovic), a middle-aged architect who lives alone in the Moroccan desert. After Dafne (Bafort) and her husband are in a car accident, she stumbles alone through the Sahara in a state of amnesiac distress, until Jake finds her.
Stunned at his, er, good fortune, he makes the most of it by telling this physically and emotionally vulnerable stranger that she’s his much-younger wife. Since he was in the process of selling his gorgeous, isolated house before he discovered Dafne, he has to quickly revise his plans.
De Clercq, who wrote the screenplay with Pierre Bourdy and Rosemary Ricchio, doesn’t go in much for plot — or maybe he thinks that’s plot enough.
Dafne does ask a few questions, but Jake gives pat answers and she seems to accept them. Who is she? According to Jake, she is “sweet and good-natured and quiet.” What did she do before the accident? Well, he says, she danced, and swam, and was “mysterious,” but didn’t have a job other than being his muse. Also, he decides, her name used to be Kitty. This apparently works for her, so she becomes that person, or sexual pet, spending her days swimming, wandering through the house quietly and lying in bed with him.
If this sounds to you like the premise of a horror movie, you’ll be significantly disappointed. Though there are several promising structural elements, the vacancy at the story’s heart sucks them into a mind-numbing vacuum that an inevitable late shock does nothing to resolve.
Bafort carries a naturally magnetic presence with relaxed ease, but it never seems to occur to anyone, in front of or behind the camera, that Dafne is little more than a live mannequin. So while Cvetkovic is unable to fully acknowledge either the black-and-white villainy of Jake’s actions or the complexity of his self-delusion, it’s not his fault: How could he, when the script seems to share that delusion?
Dafne does wonder why there’s barely any furniture in Jake’s home, but the set is so magazine-layout beautiful, and the actors required to do so little within it, that it feels like the barren décor could just be an aesthetic choice. Cinematographer Stijn Grupping makes the most of this wonderfully eerie setting, framing every image like a work of art. His camera takes its time (and then some) with every gorgeous, sun-speckled shot of desert sand, or evocatively shadowed view of waving bedroom curtains.
But without a substantive story to back up his intentions, these considerable talents are put to purely visual, rather than thematic, advantage. There’s nothing wrong with a movie that follows its own, insistently deliberate pace. If there is no satisfying end goal, however, an iconoclastic approach quickly shifts from artistic depth to empty posing.
The same is true for Hacène Larbi’s sinister score, which leads us in the direction of a thriller that never fully unfolds. Indeed, the more impactful moments are the ones that rely on diegetic noise: the wind rustling, an unexpected jeep arriving. Again, though, these are hints at another movie altogether. For the audience, the loudest sound may eventually become that of a very slowly ticking clock.
15 Highest-Grossing American Remakes of Foreign Films, From 'Godzilla' to 'The Departed' (Photos)
The Swedish film "Force Majeure" was a critically acclaimed darling but not exactly a box office hit. So there was an opportunity to take the film's black humor and install the American charms of Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell to see how it might fare commercially in "Downhill," opening this weekend. But surprisingly, even box office hits abroad don't always translate when remade with American actors, and the ones that do rarely resemble their original inspiration. Here are the highest-grossing American remakes of foreign films (all domestic box office figures via Box Office Mojo).
Jaap Buitendijk/Searchlight
15. Nine Months (1995) - $69.6 Million
France, "Neuf mois" (1994)
This much-loved Hugh Grant and Julianne Moore rom-com about pregnancy started as a French romantic comedy called "Neuf mois," but it was the remake that took off in America and abroad, grossing $138 million worldwide.
Twentieth Century Fox
14. "Dinner for Schmucks" (2010) - $73.0 Million
France, "Le Diner de Cons" (1998)
The snappy French comedy "Le Diner de Cons," or "The Dinner Game," made over $4 million at the domestic box office after releasing in France back in 1998, spawning this less-critically successful remake from Jay Roach starring Paul Rudd and Steve Carell.
Paramount
13. "Eight Below" (2006) - $81.6 Million
Japan, "Antarctica" (1983)
Both "Antarctica" and "Eight Below" were big box office hits. How could a survival story about eight huskies not be? But while "Eight Below" is a Disney-fied and whitewashed version of the story, the Japanese film hews closer to a real-life ill-fated rescue mission from the '50s. "Antarctica" also held the box office record in Japan until the release of "Princess Mononoke" in 1997.
Walt Disney Pictures
12. "Vanilla Sky" (2001) - $100.6 Million
Spain, "Abre Los Ojos" (1997)
Cameron Crowe directed Tom Cruise in the American remake of Alejandro Amenabar's "Abre Los Ojos," about a handsome and vain man who suffers an accident that disfigures his face. Crowe's version follows Amenabar's closely but makes a significant change to the ending that polarized some critics and audiences.
Paramount Pictures
11. "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" (2011) - $102.5 Million
Sweden, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" (2009)
While technically an American version of Stieg Larsson's book, the success of David Fincher's "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" owes a lot to the overseas success of the Swedish adaptation of the book. The Swedish version grossed over $10 million in America and over $100 million worldwide. And the film's star, Noomi Rapace, set the stage for screen versions of Lisbeth Salander, further using it as a launching pad for her own English-language acting career.
Columbia Pictures Corporation
10. "The Italian Job" (2003) - $106.1 Million
Britain, "The Italian Job" (1969)
Mark Wahlberg might not be Michael Caine, but F. Gary Gray's retro caper of the classic British heist movie was a box office hit and helped put Mini Coopers back on the map stateside.
Paramount Pictures
9. "The Upside" (2019)
France, "The Intouchables" (2011)
Bryan Cranston and Kevin Hart starred in this sweet remake of "The Intouchables," a movie that made so much money in France that it became a cultural event. After earning $166 million in France, the country's second-highest-grossing film ever, and over $426 million worldwide, an American remake of the film was inevitable, and it proved bankable as well. It made $108.2 million domestic but only did modestly overseas for a worldwide total of $125.8 million.
STXfilms
8. The Grudge (2004) - $110.3 Million
Japan, "Ju-On: The Grudge" (2002)
"The Grudge," like "The Ring," was part of a wave of Japanese horror remakes from the early 2000s and also spawned several other American horror sequels. As of 2020, even the American remake now got its own remake, though that one sputtered at the box office in comparison.
Columbia Pictures Corporation
7. "The Birdcage" (1996) - $124.0 Million
France, "La Cage aux Folles" (1978)
Mike Nichols' "The Birdcage" isn't just a remake of a foreign film, it's also an adaptation of a long-running French play. Both film and play are titled "La Cage aux Folles," and the French film adaptation was nominated for three Oscars following its release in 1978.
MGM
6. "The Ring" (2002) - $129.1 Million
Japan, "Ringu" (1998)
The American version of "The Ring" remains the highest-grossing horror remake of all time, and it was so wildly successful that it spawned a whirl of other American remakes of Japanese horror films, including "The Grudge," "Pulse," "The Eye," "Shutters," "Mirror" and more, all within a few years of each other.
DreamWorks
5. "The Departed" (2006) - $132 Million
Hong Kong, "Infernal Affairs," (2002)
Martin Scorsese's "The Departed" is so intrinsically tied to Boston cops and gangsters that it's hard to remember that the film's twisty story of moles and double crossing originated in Hong Kong as "Infernal Affairs," which itself spawned several sequels abroad. And while the film's critical acclaim in Japan was impressive, it was Scorsese's film that won the Oscar for Best Picture.
Roland Emmerich's "Godzilla" starring Matthew Broderick wasn't a hit with critics, but it did stomp all over the box office in 1998, becoming the 9th-highest-grossing film of the year.
Warner Bros.
3. "True Lies" (1994) - $146.2 Million
France, "La Totale!" (1991)
The French "La Totale!" is firmly a comedy and performed modestly at the French box office, but James Cameron made it his own when he cast Arnold Schwarzenegger in his tongue-in-cheek action blockbuster.
Twentieth Century Fox
2. "3 Men and a Baby" (1987) - $167.7 Million
France, "3 Hommes et un couffin" (1985)
Made on a midsize budget and starring the most '80s cast of Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg and Ted Danson as three bachelors watching over a baby, "3 Men and a Baby" was a surprise comedy hit as the top grossing movie of 1987. But its French predecessor was likewise a success, earning an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language film in 1986.
Buena Vista Pictures
1. "Godzilla" (2014) - $200.6 Million
Japan, "Godzilla" (1954)
"Godzilla" has had so many remakes and sequels over the years, but Gareth Edwards' film gets closer to the melancholy of Ishiro Honda's original monster movie than ever before.
Legendary/Warner Bros.
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“Downhill,” opening this week, is a remake of the critically acclaimed Swedish film “Force Majeure”
The Swedish film "Force Majeure" was a critically acclaimed darling but not exactly a box office hit. So there was an opportunity to take the film's black humor and install the American charms of Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell to see how it might fare commercially in "Downhill," opening this weekend. But surprisingly, even box office hits abroad don't always translate when remade with American actors, and the ones that do rarely resemble their original inspiration. Here are the highest-grossing American remakes of foreign films (all domestic box office figures via Box Office Mojo).
Jaap Buitendijk/Searchlight
Twentieth Century Fox
