For his first feature, Noé expanded his short film Carne (highlights from which open the movie), giving character actor/leading man Philippe Nahon the role of his career and lighting the actor with an explosive fuse. As the nameless butcher, Nahon goes from handling horse meat to mishandling increasingly dysfunctional interactions. The movie established the template for responses to Noé’s graphic work as either acclaim or vilification, with no middle ground.

In French with English subtitles

Print courtesy of the UCLA Film and Television Archive