Trouble Every Day — Trouble Every Day( Blu-Ray/ UHD)
Trouble Every Day is a slowly unfurling, glum and troubling mystery drama- edged with moments of both shocking sexualized violence and body horror. The early 2000s centres around a newlywed American couple, Shane (Vincent Gallo) and Jean (Tricia Vessey), on their honeymoon to Paris, and how obsession/ perversion taints their time in the city of love. Here from Eureka, as either a UHD or Blu-ray, is a new reissue of the film, taking in a 4k scan, and a selection of new & archive extras
Trouble Every Day is a joint French, German, Japanese, and Luxembourg production. It’s from the year 2001, and was directed/co-written by Paris-born Clair Denis. She has seventeen features to her name- these move from Cameroon-set drama Chocolat (1988), serial killer-edged romantic drama I Can’t Sleep(1994), gloomy neo noir Bastards (2013), and political thriller Stars At Noon (2022).
As mentioned in my introduction, Trouble Every Day unfolds in a very slow & often mysterious manner- with plot points often revealed in a very subtle manner. It’s a film that often edges towards arthouse, but never fully gets there. So, you have to have both patience and a good focus; otherwise, the film will come across as challenging and possibly rather frustrating.
It's also a film you don’t really want to know too much about, so the sly-to-shocking revelations/ plot twists hit effectively. So I’ll give you a vague idea of the film's key characters. So we have the newlywed couple- Shane( Gallo) and Jean(Vessey), who on the surface seem very loved-up, though he is both troubled & obsessive. There’s Leo (Alex Descas), a black French doctor, who, early on, we see saving Core (Béatrice Dalle) a seemingly beaten and battered woman. And curious, at times lazy hotel maid Christelle (Florence Loiret Caille).
The film is primarily a mystery drama, with sexual violence and very bloody/ troubling body horror elements appearing ever so often- in all its teeth ripping & body violating intensity. These are both powerful & distributing, which even had me as a long-term fan of both extreme horror, flinching/ looking away.
The acting is good throughout, though I’d say Gallo and Dalle are most impressive. He shifts between passionate & loving, onto sneaky & obsessive, to disquieting & troublingly predatory. She moves from being a mysterious temptress to a troubling/ troubled figure.
The film features a low-key & gloomy ( largely) instrumental chamber pop score by UK’s Tindersticks. This works well to build both mood and an air of troubled romance. I’d say Trouble Every Day is an original/distinct film, slyly wrapping its mystery drama focus in moments of highly troubling sexual violence.
This region B release from Eureka features a 4k scan- this looks well defined, full of clarity and depth throughout. On the new extras side, we get three things- first is a commentary track from horror scholar Dr Lindsay Hallam- this is interesting/ worthy, though in places she does overly quote from others' writings/critiques of the film. She begins by talking about how the film is about desire, and how close a kiss is to a bite. She discusses the use of close-ups in the film, and the reasoning behind these. She comments on the pictures' lead theme song and touches on how director Denis and The Tindersticks have collaborated quite a few times. She talks about how central Paris & its outskirts are used in the movie. She discusses where the film sits in the French extreme genre, and its mixing of high & low culture. Later on, she discusses the violence in sexual desire. She compares it to cannibal films of the 80s, and how Trouble Every Day has gone on to influence/ inspire releases since.
Otherwise, on the new side, we have: Pleasures of the Flesh ( 25.23) interview with New French Extremity expert Alice Haylett Bryan. Trouble Every Day: Material Vampires and The Defeat of Science( 23.15) a video essay by film scholar Virginie Sélavy. Both of these are excellent and well worth a look.
On the archive side, we get a commentary track from director Claire Denis and director of photography Agnès Godard. As well as a trailer.
In conclusion, if you have a penchant for slowly revealing/ arty mystery drama, with some nasty/ shocking edges, then Trouble Every Day will be for you. This Eureka release is limited to just 1000 copies and will not be reprinted- so if it sounds like your type of thing, I’d say act sooner rather than later, to secure a copy.