"A merchant seaman returns to Paris to avenge the death of a family member, in this dazzling, elliptical revenge thriller from French master Claire Denis.
Official Selection, Toronto International Film Festival 2013
Renowned for her sensual, sometimes shocking, and always formally daring films, Claire Denis has established herself as one of the true visionaries of contemporary world cinema. Told in Denis' characteristically elliptical, time-jumping manner, her eagerly anticipated new film Bastards slowly unravels a labyrinthine revenge drama centred on Marco (Vincent Lindon, of Denis' Vendredi soir), a ship's captain who returns to Paris when his brother-in-law is found dead. When his embittered sister accuses a sleazy financier (Michel Subor) of her husband's murder, Marco embarks on an enigmatic revenge plan — which may or may not involve his torrid affair with his target's beautiful mistress (Chiara Mastroianni). Supported once again by her almost familial crew of collaborators — co-writer Jean-Pol Fargeau, cinematographer Agnès Godard, and the celebrated UK band Tindersticks — Denis with Bastards creates yet another mysterious, visceral, and stunningly beautiful puzzle of a film."
http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/tiffbelllightbox/2013/2330020771
