Reflection in a Dead Diamond (Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy and France, 2025)
Original title: Reflet dans un diamant mort
Director: Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani
Screenplay: Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani
Main cast: Fabio Testi, Yannick Renier, Koen de Bouw, Maria de Medeiros and Céline Camara
Running time: 87 minutes
John D (played by Fabio Testi in his older version and Yannick Renier in his younger) is a sort of sixty-year-old James Bond who has to resume his life as a spy when his neighbor disappears. Memory, imagination and delirium mix in this feature film that tells the story of a retired detective who spends his days living in luxury on the French Riviera, without ever making it clear how much of it is a stylized reality or how much of it is just the main character’s delusion.
Paying homage to the various elements of a good spy film, such as a femme fatale and an unexpected villain, the film completely breaks away from any sense of realism to bring this new version of reality where colors are more saturated, the sun always seems to be hot and logic can be completely left aside in favor of a freer narrative that brings sensations instead of rationalization. With impeccable art direction and the invention of elements and clothing items that challenge the limits of what films have projected onto the popular imagination, the film needs an audience open to watching something different. And if the audience is open to it, they will be in for a pleasant and surprising journey.
Apart from a more closed proposal, with freedom to play with the expectations of the viewer and the desires of a retired man, all the elements are intelligently positioned so that there’s a surprise every few minutes of the work. We are bombarded with images and concepts with each new shot, but instead of this seeming excessive, the directors manage to find a perfect balance point at which the entire circus stands up. In a mix of excellent artistic choices and a solid dramatic base, they create a delirious and captivating universe in equal measure.
Lasting exactly as long as the audience could stand its maximalist aesthetic, the film incites the imagination and breaks a little with the monotony of the logic of film production. It’s a very welcome film at a time when the excess of realism present on the screen is being discussed and it stands out for being a film independent of the expectations of those who start watching it expecting an existential drama.
