Albert Serra’s ‘Pacification’ Shakes Up the Official Competition [Cannes]

Whether you love or hate Albert Serra’s “Pacification,” there’s no doubt this year’s subpar competition needed its inclusion just for the sake of shaking things up.

To describe the plot of “Pacification” is near impossible. It has to do with a top ranking French official (an excellent Benoit Magimel) in the Polynesian Islands, he’s the High Commissioner of the Republic. Very strange things start to happen to him, all seemingly revolving around rumors of the French conducting some nuclear testing near the island.

Will the masses love “Pacification”? Of course not. It’s a slow-as-molasses statement from Serra whose not in uncharted territory here. After all, this is the director behind “The Death of Louis XI,” and “Liberte,” two impenetrable, but painterly statements.

The reviews so far have been mixed, but Pete Hammond, of all people, raved about it for Deadline, calling it “hypnotic.” There were tons of walkouts at the Lumiere screening. It’s just that kind of film, either you go along with its peculiar vibes or you don’t.

Mind you, there were times I was not sold on what I was seeing, but some really surreal, Lynchian moments happen in this film, especially in the last quarter which reminded of the club scene in Lynch’s own “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.”