Sooo, it's a French film, which you've gathered from the title.
Done in a sparse black and white mockumentary style.
I like French films. I like black and white, and mockumentaries too.
The basic plot is a film crew following an unrepentant serial killer around.
Well and good. I liked Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon a lot. If you haven't seen it, and you like classic slasher films, I suggest you check it out. Very entertaining.
This one is funny in parts. The serial killer, Benoit, likes to start the month by knocking off a postman so he can search out pensioners living alone. He likes killing the elderly because they tend to keep their money in cash and on hand. He has a mathematical formula for sinking dead bodies in canals or quarries that includes midgets. He is racist in a way that would drop your granddad's jaw.
He is also a psychopath.
We've gotten used to our psychos having a charming, quirky turn that allows us to root for them regardless of the blood on their hands, a la Dexter. This movie very quickly reminded me that monsters are monsters for a reason. By turns friendly and sharply insulting, Benoit erodes the self-esteem of everyone around him. His closest "friends" cringe like abused dogs in fear of causing him offense. Nobody quite knows what he will do at any given moment, including the audience, which is subtly disturbing.
Much more in-your-face disturbing is how he subverts the camera crew from Neutral Observers to Active Participants. There is one scene that seems stolen directly from A Clockwork Orange only without the MGM soundtrack. I wished Stanley Kubrick would have his face eaten by rabid muskrats for ruining, ruining, Singin in the Rain for me. I could not see Gene Kelly without shuddering for months.
So, yeah, Man Bites Dog. Not for the faint of heart but if you're already darkly deviant, well worth the subtitles.
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