Haute Tension - High Tension

[The Perineum Falcon]

ugh, this movie was so repulsively...french.

???

And I thought this was supposed to come out around Valentine's Day?

[bonanzataz]

it was, but then they decided to cut it down. possibly due to the success they had in cutting saw down to an r rating?

and yes, repulsively french. i can't remember a really good french movie in a while (don't get me started on swimming pool and the man on the train), although granted, i don't really see that many new french films. they're just so slow and stupid and go nowhere and then leave you with this dumb twist ending that's supposed to shock you. it's dumb. it's not entertaining and it doesn't even make you think.

the only french movies i like a lot are the ones that michael haneke makes, but he's german.

[MacGuffin]

New Trailer here.

[MacGuffin]

Mixing a new kind of message
The French horror film "High Tension" is an unusual hybrid: Some lines are subtitled, while others are dubbed into English. By Elaine Dutka, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

PEOPLE may find themselves unsettled by "High Tension," and not only because of the violence in Alexandre Aja's ode to 1970s horror films such as "Maniac!" and "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre." Part subtitled, part dubbed, the movie is that rare hybrid: an experiment in how to make a French-language film accessible to a mass American audience.

Lions Gate Films, the distributor, flip-flopped several times before deciding how to release the film. Originally, it conceived of a limited subtitled release — until a crudely dubbed version created for the international market was mistakenly sent to a research screening last year.

"We were appalled," said Peter Block, president of acquisitions and co-productions for Lions Gate Entertainment. "We were going to kill the guy at the lab. In the focus sessions afterward, however, we realized that the audience was loving the movie. We later decided to examine the possibility of sending it out dubbed for a mass audience. It was cinematic serendipity."

Traditionally, art house crowds in the U.S. have not only tolerated but demanded subtitles. (A dubbed version of Roberto Benigni's "Life Is Beautiful" was so poorly received that Miramax Films quickly sent out a subtitled version.) But "High Tension's" 17- to 24-year-old target demographic doesn't go to the theaters to read, reasoned Lions Gate executives. Whether they'd buy into the dubbing — routine for American exports but unusual in the U.S.— was the question.

On the face of it, "High Tension," a $2-million film to be released June 10 on roughly 1,800 screens, is perfect for testing the waters.

The story of two friends fighting off a killer (Philippe Nahon) in the French countryside, it has minimal dialogue after the opening segment — perhaps only 10 minutes in all. ("It's more about behavior and survival," the director said.)

The action is told from the vantage point of Marie (Cécile De France), who, having escaped from the man's clutches, is trying to save Alex (Maïwenn), whom the killer has kidnapped. Some of the more violent scenes have been trimmed — though not removed — to sidestep the commercially disastrous NC-17 rating, which excludes viewers 17 and younger.

Aja ("Furia"), who also co-wrote the movie, supported the decision to dub the film, which he figured would broaden its appeal.

"The American people don't like subtitles," he said on the phone from Paris. "The American people don't like dubbing. That's why you see remakes like 'The Ring' and 'The Grudge,' which are also a way of protecting your film industry. It's hard to release a movie in the U.S. — especially a scary movie. Much easier to have a hit with a period film or an intimate drama."

Lions Gate discovered Aja's film, executive produced by Luc Besson's EuropaCorp, at the 2003 Toronto Film Festival, where it set off a bidding war — unexpectedly, because during its initial screening at the Cannes Film Festival, no North American distributor picked it up. Taken by the performances and camerawork, Lions Gate's Block, and its acquisition executives Jason Constantine and Eda Kowan, edged out the competition. The studio paid a mid-six-figure sum to acquire the film and an equal amount to dub it.

Last November, the lines were dubbed by American actors — as well as De France, one of France's leading actresses, who starred in last year's remake of "Around the World in 80 Days." To fine-tune the process, she flew to the U.S. this year for a grueling session overseen by dubbing coordinator Bob Buchholz.

It's a tedious process, requiring take after take, one sentence at a time. Scripts can't simply be translated from one language to another — words must be added or eliminated to correspond to the lip movement in the footage. The goal: to avoid the stilted, out-of-sync dubbing endemic to martial arts imports, the studio technicians explain.

Not every actor is up to the task, Lions Gate's Constantine points out.

"There are two aspects, artistic and technical," he said. "To maintain the illusion, the actor has to be able to get into character, re-creating a specific moment years later on a soundstage. It's crucial that the dubbing doesn't detract from the realism of the movie."

Learning by doing

Dressed in a striped sweater and miniskirt, De France ran in place in the darkened studio as the movie was projected on a large screen in front of the reading stand where she was recording.

"Please, you must call the police," she intoned, panting hysterically. Buchholz told her to enunciate more, distinguishing between "police" and "please."

It was nearing the end of the 12-hour day, and the actress asked for a break ("My mind is too full"). Three teams worked around the clock for three days to make the test screening deadline.

"I know this film by heart — each breath, each comma — but it's an exercise, this kind of work," De France said. "I really love the movie and want to do the lips perfect. Alexandre did the movie so well because he knows the American thriller. Doing it in English is a natural extension of that."

The entire dubbing process took six months. But it didn't deliver the hoped-for response.

According to John Hegeman, president of worldwide marketing for Lions Gate Entertainment, a horror audience attending a March research screening said the dubbing siphoned off the terror and distanced viewers from the performances.

There was also confusion about the setting of the film. In contrast to the original, which took place in France, the dubbed version was set in an unspecified locale in which all the characters — with the exception of De France — spoke English. How, then, to explain the French police uniforms and road signs?

"We sat around wondering what to do," Hegeman said. "Going [back to the original idea of opening] small with an NC-17 movie would have been an admission that our experiment had failed. After three months of deliberation, we opted to go with the hybrid."

The current version establishes early on that the setting is once again France, where Alex's family is renovating an old farmhouse.

The beginning of the film is almost all dubbed to set up the story without subtitles. All of the locals in the ensuing footage — from the gas station attendant to the authorities — speak in subtitled French, while Marie is bilingual. Talking to Americans, she's dubbed into English. Speaking to Frenchmen and herself, she speaks in her native French.

Though the hybrid version has not been tested, the film has been screened for webmasters on 15 to 20 sites, including bloody-disgusting.com and aintitcoolnews.com.

"It's slightly (OK, maybe VERY) distracting in the first 20-30 minutes," one slasher fan wrote on the bloody-disgusting.com website. But once the action kicks in, "you never look back and don't even notice."

Lions Gate doesn't pretend to have the answers. It's uncharted territory, they say.

"We created a road map as we went along — and the lack of precedents makes it even scarier," Hegeman said. "What did we learn? That simple nips and tucks rather than major revamping can get you where you want to be. It's important to stay true to the director's vision. If you have a great movie, try not to screw it up."

[Brazoliange]

it was, but then they decided to cut it down. possibly due to the success they had in cutting saw down to an r rating?

and yes, repulsively french. i can't remember a really good french movie in a while (don't get me started on swimming pool and the man on the train), although granted, i don't really see that many new french films. they're just so slow and stupid and go nowhere and then leave you with this dumb twist ending that's supposed to shock you. it's dumb. it's not entertaining and it doesn't even make you think.

the only french movies i like a lot are the ones that michael haneke makes, but he's german.

the piano teacher was a bit french

[Gamblour.]

What the fuck, Lions Gate? Quit your market research buillshit and release a goddamn subtitled film. You wasted your time and your pride got in the way (they "didn't want to admit their experiment failed"? please, get over yourselves).

SPOILERS (if you care about contrived endings)

This film is gory, but nothing really happens. I was intrigued by the image of an attractive muscular, short-haired French chick wielding a stick wrapped in barbwire. This was, however, close to boring at points. The twist sucks. Goddammit, do people not understand that the whole narrator/split personality thing is now a trite fucking cliche???

[Brazoliange]

I'm planning on seeing this tomorrow

[Brazoliange]

I did.... I love (sometimes) crappy, gory movies

[Gamblour.]

This isn't crappy because of a lack of money or just overall quality. It's crappy because it could've been ok. Disappointing. But still OK.

[Sal]

I had fun there, for awhile.  The deaths were enjoyable and if there's blood and gore, I am ready and willing.  But man!  The story was just awful.  The twist isnt forgiveable.

[SHAFTR]

You know what, I liked it.  I fully aknowledge the holes and downfalls of the film, but I still really enjoyed it.  Lions Gate screwed up with their half subtitled and half dubbed idea.  I can't figure out why they did it.   I could alteast understand if they dubbed the film during intense/horror scenes, but they used subtitles there.  The dubbing was used during the conversation scenes.

I would like to see a subtitled version of the film, I think the opening conversation scenes would flow a little better.  The 2nd act of this film is great.  It has some great, great death scenes.  I loved it.  SPOILERS>>> The twist is unnecessary.  It also has a lot of holes in it.  <<< END SPOILERS

If you go to this movie and watch it as mindless fun (as I did), then I think you'll come away very pleased.  It's difficult for me to decide how much I liked it.  The great parts are really great.  I'd say it is definitely one of the best horror films I've seen in recent memory, although it certainly has it's problems.

[hedwig]

someday, in a movie, i want to have the fuck pulverized out of my face by a weapon as cool or cooler than that barbed-wire-wood-thing.

[MacGuffin]

Note: I watched the original French director's cut so my opinion might differ than those above since I don't know the differences in versions.

*MINOR SPOILERS*

Well, I thought it lived up to its title. I thought it very tense; the lack of dialogue and the subjective POV worked in making it so. It didn't play it safe, going all out in the gore. I liked the battle of wits between a smart protagonist and killer, who was a very vicious and made for a nice cheer when he finally got his. I was with it all the way...


And then... the twist.


It worked soooooo much better as a straight horror/chase movie. The twist was unnecessary; it went against everything shown previously and, like Ghostboy said, you felt insulted. A terrible cheat to the audience.

[mutinyco]

You should be forced to watch the English-dubbed version.

[The Red Vine]

This was a total failure. Just once I'd like to see a studio have some balls and release a foreign film (with subtitles) in mainstream theaters. The dubbing was just plain awful. The movie causes some real tension in some scenes, but the violence is gratuitous and the plot is pedestrian. And it all leads to one of the biggest copout endings I've seen this year. Not only does it not make any sense, but it cheats the audience in the same way "Saw" did. Another case where sitting through all the violence and gore just isn't worth the cheap pay off. One of the weakest thrillers I've seen....great poster though.