Reel Time: Reclaiming the Frame in the Coralie Fargeat's 'Revenge'

With the opening moments showing the film's desert setting reflected in the blue-green tint of French millionaire Richard's aviator sunglasses, Coralie Fargeat's directorial debut, Revenge, is clearly concerned with acts of looking and the lenses through which we do so. Screened at Picturehouse Central in London (and other locations) as part of the Reclaim the Frame influencer project by Bird's Eye View,  a mission to bring ever-greater audiences to films by women and build a more balanced film future by boosting the commercial success of said films, Revenge is a rape-revenge thriller which first utilises and then re-purposes the male gaze. 

The desert landscape is reflected in Richard's glasses (right) whilst Jen's lenses reflect nothing (left), Revenge (2017)

Though Jen (Matilda Lutz) expects a romantic getaway with Richard (Kevin Janssens) all to herself (away from his wife and kids), their trip is interrupted by the early arrival of his friends for a hunting trip. From there, things go horribly wrong and, left for dead in the desert, Jen embarks on a journey of brutal and bloody revenge against the three men. From the outset, Fargeat wanted to present Jen as girlish in the extreme, describing that

“I wanted a character that could be as superficial, seductive, and sexy as she wanted to be, and that never being an excuse for anyone to harm her. That’s a real problem: women are made responsible for what others do to them, even though they are the victims" - Coralie Fargeat

Portrayed through a masculine gaze, Jen appears the typical beautiful blonde American mistress, sexually available and provocative to the men at the villa. This is less a fact of her existence, however, and more one of the perception of the world through particular lenses. Like the reflection of the world through the blue-green tint of Richard's sunglasses, Jen's existence - both to the men and to the audience - is filtered through a particular masculine viewpoint which depicts her as 'superficial, seductive, and sexy'. This sense of filtered vision recurs throughout the film, with Richard's friends, Stanley and Dimitri (Vincent Colombe and Guillaume Bouchède), first seeing Jen clad in her underwear and a crop top, totally oblivious to their presence, through pink and yellow glass panels at the villa (see below). But the camera, and the audience, are equally as guilty too - prior to the reveal of Stanley and Dimitri, we are equally invited to ogle Jen's body. 

It is key that the rape scene this filtered gaze drops away for the viewer, but not for the perpetrators. Whilst Stanley and Dimitri continue to view Jen as a sexual object for their entertainment, carrying out an attack which is justified by their perspective of the world, the audience sees Jen as a normal young woman, terrified and unwilling. 

Tinted glass panels at Richard's villa, through which the men look at Jen, and Jen, later, looks back, Revenge (2017)

At the Q&A following the screening, attended by director Coralie Fargeat, actress Matilda Lutz and film critic Elena Lazic, Fargeat described how she wanted Richard to be faced with the same violence he has enacted. This filtered viewpoint, the masculine gaze which invites and justifies the violence enacted upon Jen by the three men, is later returned by Jen, and Fargeat, to the men. Leaving her for dead after brutally raping her, the men are subjected to Jen's vengeful rampage through the desert as she pursues her newfound prey. 

This is particularly so in the run-up to the final showdown between Jen and Richard, a finale so bloody that shooting it was just '[Fargeat], the cinematographer, and the two actors just going nuts shooting that scene, screaming, ‘More blood! More blood!’'. Relieved to have escaped Jen's clutches and returned to the villa, Richard stands in the living room before being met with Jen through the blue tinted glass. The camera looks through this glass in both directions - Jen looks at Richard, Richard looks at Jen - creating an instance in which the masculine gaze Richard has inflicted upon Jen finally looks back at him (see below). 

Jen sets her sights on her prey, Richard, Revenge (2017)

Revenge does not propose any broad solutions to gender inequality, rape culture, nor the male gaze in cinema more broadly. It isn't supposed to and it shouldn't have to - not every film made by or for women needs to be radical, because that would be beside the point. Rather, Fargeat's film offers a thrilling, action-packed revenge thriller which plays with genre conventions and carves out a spot for women's experience within that masculine genre. 

“Revenge is a rape retaliation thriller both tautly controlled and wildly over-the-top, executed with flashy style, sly visual humor and a subversive feminist sensibility" Hollywood Reporter

The film's choice to reverse the male gaze back onto its initial perpetrators is not a serious proposal for social change, but it is a fun role reversal which operates within the systems it operates in: if Jen has to enact revenge in this male dominated space, she must learn how to become the dominating force in return. Similarly, Reclaim the Frame is an attempt at positive social change through commercial impact - although capitalism has a significant hand in women's oppression, the aim of the project is to boost the reach of women led film through financial success. This is not an all encompassing overthrow of the powers that be, but a gentle manipulation of those powers from the inside. And hey - it's a great excuse to see some excellent film!

Revenge is released in selected UK cinemas on the 11th of May. Or, join Reclaim the Frame today and attend special screenings in Newcastle, Birmingham, Manchester, Plymouth or a second screening in London, with special guests at reduced or free entry rates. Reclaim the Frame will feature three more female led films this summer.