A Ghost Story versus Personal Shopper

Casey Affleck in A Ghost Story

David Lowery's A Ghost Story struck me as a successful art film that ends up being too bloodless to transcend its genre. Lowery's direction, writing and, especially, editing are well constructed, tasteful and intelligent. Compared to Malick's Tree of Life, to which it bears a great resemblance in its domestic setting and time traveling expanse, A Ghost Story is relatively grounded. Lowery is better with his leads than Malick and gives them actorly space whereas Malick is always making his thesps chase a tracking shot out the door to merge ecstatically with the universe. When Rooney Mara sits on the floor and attempts to eat a whole pie to assuage her blues, Lowery has the sense to keep his camera stationary and focused on his grieving widow. He, then is sensible enough to leave his camera be when his heroine runs off to throw up. 

Still, having Casey Affleck dress up in a sheet to haunt his manse feels like a stunt. A Ghost Story is never risible, but it never packed the punch that another recent ghost story did for me, namely Olivier Assayas' Personal Shopper. Kristen Stewart pretty much carries the film on her shoulders as the title character who dabbles in spiritualism and is on a quest to contact her dead twin brother. Stewart's character also becomes enmeshed in a murder mystery as the perpetrator gaslights her with texts and surveillance. 

Kristen Stewart in Personal Shopper

If all this sounds as if it is too much for one movie, I found Assayas sense of narrative drive to be compelling enough to hold my attention throughout. Beneath the glittering façade of a pampered Euro lifestyle, Assayas is heartfelt in picturing a generation teeming with spiritual thirst. Stewart's character hurtles around Paris on a motorbike picking up gorgeous couture for her patron, but these tasks merely mask an emotional need for connection that does not dissipate.

Assayas has had an up and down career, but his technical mastery has never been more evident. The talented Yorick Le Saux provides excellent photography which dares to revel in darkly lit chambers. The sound is superb, heightening every bump and scrape in the dark. I find Assayas portrayal of the supernatural to be dubious and cliched, but not his portrayal of his protagonist's plight. Personal Shopper stands, along with Irma Vep and Carlos, as one of his most rewarding works. (11/20/17)