Nearly every uncanny characteristic in the presentation of Mauvais Sang (Bad Blood) works to its favor in delivering a much more engaging crime tale than if the story was told in an undemanding format. It’s no joke too that the dialogue in Carax’s overlooked noir film is quite adroit, advertising some very clear influences from French director Jean-Luc Godard’s spoken-word films that deal with romantic dilemmas.
How Jean-Yves Escoffier displays the lighting of scenes and what it covers and what it doesn’t is some of the most contextually telling that I’ve seen in the art of film. There’s additionally an eccentric charisma to the editing. The deft combination of these resourcefully experimental shots with the less quirky ones make for a distinctive viewing. The intensely specific composition of the scenery furthermore adds to the relevance of these wacky-creative shots. There’s a gratifying use of color appointing in the cinematography, as well. Benjamin Britten’s Simple Symphony Op. 4 as the main theme partnered with other artists like Bowie and Chaplin are truly tasteful choices to go along with the assorted tones of the movie. The methods that Carax approaches in capturing fast-moving objects and characters are so dynamic and unforgettable. I’ve heard this Leos Carax guy is a weirdo, but damn, he is a cinema weirdo, and it frankly manages!
It is, although, ever so obvious how unevenly paced Mauvais Sang can be. Also, the motion picture’s engrossing concept of the morally ambiguous sexual disease is so marginal to the plot that I’m honestly baffled on why such an excessive asset is even in the feature-length, to begin with. At times though, it does become vaguely comparable with the narrative’s themes of “young love” but that’s essentially its extent. Maybe I missed something though.
Yet with that aside, Mauvais Sang is an enthusiastic beast of filmmaking dexterity and a fine romantic heist movie on its own terms. Now, I certainly have an obsessive inclination to peek into the rest of Leos Carax’s filmography after watching this nutcase of a project in action.
Verdict: A-
“Mauvais Sang” is now available to stream on Vudu, Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, and The Criterion Channel.
Burning the Celluloid 
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