Thursday, 3 August 2017

Personal Shopper


2016’s “Personal Shopper”, directed by Oliver Assayas.

Starring Kristen Stewart, Lars Eidinger, Sigrid Bouaziz, Anders Danielsen Lie, Ty Olwin, Hammou Graia, Nora von Waldstatten, Benjamin Biolay, and Audrey Bonnet.

Personal Shopper isn’t a ghost story in the traditional sense, in that it isn’t necessarily just about things that go bump in the night. Kristen Stewart stars as a American ex-patriot working in Paris, as a personal shopper for rich/famous people. She’s indifferent to the job (and learning french beyond “thank you”), hates her employer, and seems to be suffering from some sort of spiritual crisis. A family member of hers has recently died, and she is so focused on becoming a medium as a way to communicate with the dead, that she sticks around, despite having a boyfriend working in the country of Oman. What follows involves the supernatural and the murder of characters, but even more so in the words of Dave Eggers, “What is the What?”
Difficult to classify, “PS” has moments of hair raising tension, lovely poetic grace, suspenseful mystery, and even breathless stalking, as Stewart goes about her routine, a combination of apathy and thrills. Her character is one who is curious and passionate about her hobby, but bored and listless at her day job- unless trying on her employer’s expensive clothing of questionable value. It’s vibe is very European, with scenes of mundane every day life coupled with chills and our protagonist taking time for some self pleasure. Stewart continues her run to annihilate her reputation as a “Twilight” twinkie, working with Assayas for the second time (2014’s “Clouds of Sils Marie”, also excellent) and ironically, provides ammunition for both sides of people’s evaluation of her performance. Always able to portray naturalism (sans vampires), what she lacks in variety she makes up for in depth and commitment to character. She is the anchor who keeps the movie tethered to the here and now. “PS”’s odd spots, lulls in action, and occasional dead ends make for a limiting experience, but it’s romantic strangeness and natural originality take it quite far enough as to consider throwing away the receipt.


4/5


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