# Bastards
**Bastards** (French: *Les Salauds*) is a 2013 French-German noir drama directed by [Claire Denis](https://www.edgepedia.org/claire-denis), her eleventh feature film, starring Vincent Lindon and [Chiara Mastroianni](https://www.edgepedia.org/chiara-mastroianni). It follows an oil-tanker captain who abandons his ship to help his sister after her husband's suicide, and gradually uncovers the sexual violence and debt that destroyed her family.[1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/235506/) • [2](https://variety.com/2013/film/global/cannes-film-review-bastards-1200489090/) The film premiered in the Un Certain Regard section of the 66th Cannes Film Festival and opened in France on 7 August 2013.[1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/235506/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original / international title | *Les Salauds* / *Bastards*; France-Germany co-production, 2013[1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/235506/) |
| Director and writers | Directed by Claire Denis; written by Denis and Jean-Pol Fargeau[1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/235506/) |
| Principal cast | Vincent Lindon (Marco), Chiara Mastroianni (Raphaëlle), Julie Bataille (Sandra), Michel Subor (Edouard Laporte), Lola Créton (the niece)[1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/235506/) • [3](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/bastards/) |
| Runtime and format | 100 minutes; Denis's first film shot digitally, photographed by Agnès Godard[1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/235506/) • [3](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/bastards/) |
| Premiere and release | Un Certain Regard, 66th Cannes Film Festival; France 7 August 2013; US (Sundance Selects) 23 October 2013[1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/235506/) • [4](https://www.independentfilmco.com/films/bastards) |
| Critical reception | Metacritic: generally favorable, 65% positive and 35% mixed across 17 reviews; IMDb Metascore 69[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/bastards/) • [6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2821088/) |
| Box office | $439,935 worldwide gross; $24,525 US and Canada opening weekend[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2821088/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and structure
The film opens with the suicide of Jacques (Laurent Grévill), a shoe manufacturer crushed by debt to the billionaire financier Edouard Laporte (Michel Subor).[2](https://variety.com/2013/film/global/cannes-film-review-bastards-1200489090/) His widow Sandra (Julie Bataille) calls her brother Marco (Vincent Lindon), a sea captain, who jumps ship and comes to land to help his sister and her teenaged daughter (Lola Créton).[3](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/bastards/) • [7](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/news/this-noir-bastards) The Guardian's review adds that Jacques, in despair over repayments, had apparently allowed Laporte to abuse his daughter in lieu of cash, and that a terrible revenge appears also to be planned against a little boy.[8](https://www.theguardian.com/p/3mkzp)
**Revenge by seduction.** Marco rents an apartment in a building owned by Laporte and begins an affair with Laporte's mistress Raphaëlle (Chiara Mastroianni).[7](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/news/this-noir-bastards) • [2](https://variety.com/2013/film/global/cannes-film-review-bastards-1200489090/)
The narrative is fragmented and associative, and it withholds information: the viewer is never given more information than Marco has at any point, and the puzzle pieces fit together only in a shocking final scene.[2](https://variety.com/2013/film/global/cannes-film-review-bastards-1200489090/) The Guardian compared the effect to *The Big Sleep*, a film meant to be experienced rather than conventionally understood.[8](https://www.theguardian.com/p/3mkzp)
### Cast and characters
- **Vincent Lindon** as Marco, a taciturn sea captain who returns to land to rescue his estranged sister and niece.[3](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/bastards/) • [7](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/news/this-noir-bastards)
- **Chiara Mastroianni** as Raphaëlle, Marco's married lover and the financier's mistress.[3](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/bastards/)
- **Julie Bataille** as Sandra, Marco's sister.[1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/235506/)
- **Michel Subor** as Edouard Laporte, the international financier responsible for bankrupting Sandra's husband.[7](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/news/this-noir-bastards)
- **Lola Créton** as the teenaged niece, and **Laurent Grévill** as Jacques, the brother-in-law whose suicide sets the story in motion.[3](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/bastards/) • [2](https://variety.com/2013/film/global/cannes-film-review-bastards-1200489090/)
## Production
The screenplay was written by Denis with her longtime co-writer Jean-Pol Fargeau, and the film was edited by Annette Dutertre and photographed by Agnès Godard, Denis's regular cinematographer.[1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/235506/) Denis shot digitally for the first time, and she and Godard imparted their trademark tactility to the images.[3](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/bastards/)
**Financing.** The film was produced by Alcatraz Films and Wild Bunch Production in co-production with ARTE France Cinéma and Pandora Filmproduktion, with support from the CNC and the [Île-de-France](https://www.edgepedia.org/ile-de-france) region and participation from Canal Plus, Arte France, and ZDF/Arte; Wild Bunch distributed it in France.[1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/235506/) • [2](https://variety.com/2013/film/global/cannes-film-review-bastards-1200489090/)
**Sources.** Denis and Fargeau drew loose inspiration from Kurosawa's corporate revenge drama *The Bad Sleep Well* and from a startling act of sexual violence in Faulkner's *Sanctuary*; Variety also heard echoes of Claude Sautet's 1976 *Mado*.[2](https://variety.com/2013/film/global/cannes-film-review-bastards-1200489090/) Denis said she took note of the French sex-trafficking and prostitution scandals involving men of wealth and power, including a news article about a young woman found drugged and naked next to a garbage dumpster; the Harvard Film Archive also names the malevolent figure of [Dominique Strauss-Kahn](https://www.edgepedia.org/dominique-strauss-kahn) among the film's inspirations.[7](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/news/this-noir-bastards) • [9](https://harvardfilmarchive.org/programs/claire-denis-bastards/1)
## Release and reception
After its divisive Cannes premiere in Un Certain Regard, the film screened at festivals including Toronto, New York (an official selection of the 51st [New York Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-york-film-festival)), Stockholm, Seville, and Hong Kong.[1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/235506/) • [3](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/bastards/) It was released in France on 7 August 2013, then in Belgium (28 August), Sweden (22 November), Germany (26 December), the UK and Ireland (14 February 2014), the Netherlands (24 April 2014) and Denmark (14 August 2014).[1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/235506/) Sundance Selects opened it in the United States on 23 October 2013.[4](https://www.independentfilmco.com/films/bastards)
**Aggregate scores.** Metacritic records a generally favorable reception based on 17 critic reviews: 65% positive (11 reviews), 35% mixed (6 reviews), and 0% negative.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/bastards/) IMDb lists a Metascore of 69.[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2821088/)
**Critical response.** Variety called it a powerfully acted, unsettling roundelay of damaged lives, sure to offend gentler tastes, and praised the moody, [Tangerine Dream](https://www.edgepedia.org/tangerine-dream)-esque electronica score by Denis's longtime collaborators [Tindersticks](https://www.edgepedia.org/tindersticks).[2](https://variety.com/2013/film/global/cannes-film-review-bastards-1200489090/) The Guardian found a menacing and atmospheric neo-noir with a pulsing Tindersticks score enhancing the disquieting mood.[8](https://www.theguardian.com/p/3mkzp) Dissenting voices on Rotten Tomatoes criticized the film's self-conscious morbidity and an arguably silly, unnecessarily provocative ending, and one pan called it a drearily angst-ridden tale of suicide, sexual violence and incestuous strife; others praised its economy and Denis's typically impeccable editing.[10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_bastards)
## Themes and style
[Sight and Sound](https://www.edgepedia.org/sight-and-sound) describes *Bastards* as one of the rarest of cinematic objects, a completely contemporary, disturbingly relevant film noir, and the darkest movie, visually, psychologically, and spiritually, that Denis has made.[7](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/news/this-noir-bastards) The distributor's US page frames it as commentary on late capitalism.[4](https://www.independentfilmco.com/films/bastards) Godard's cinematography transforms Paris into a rain-slicked, stygian shadow world, and the archive's note reads the film as a fable of incestuous sexual abuse with power as a pathological form of aphrodisiac.[9](https://harvardfilmarchive.org/programs/claire-denis-bastards/1) Unlike a conventional crime drama organized around investigation and resolution, the film keeps its viewer as uninformed as its protagonist, fitting the puzzle pieces of debt, corruption, and sexual exploitation together only in a shocking final scene.[2](https://variety.com/2013/film/global/cannes-film-review-bastards-1200489090/)
The film also continues Denis's artistic family: Godard behind the camera, Tindersticks composing the score, and Denis regular Vincent Lindon in the lead.[1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/235506/) • [2](https://variety.com/2013/film/global/cannes-film-review-bastards-1200489090/)
## By the numbers
- Runtime: 100 minutes.[1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/235506/)
- Worldwide gross: $439,935; US and Canada opening weekend: $24,525.[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2821088/)
- Metacritic: 65% positive, 35% mixed, 0% negative from 17 reviews; IMDb Metascore 69.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/bastards/) • [6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2821088/)
- Awards record: 1 win and 4 nominations, including a Cannes Film Festival nomination and a Women Film Critics Circle Awards win and nomination.[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2821088/) • [5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/bastards/)
- Theatrical releases in at least eight territories between August 2013 and August 2014.[1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/235506/)
## Awards and legacy
The film received a Cannes nomination and a win and a nomination at the Women Film Critics Circle Awards; IMDb records 1 win and 4 nominations overall.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/bastards/) • [6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2821088/) Its standing rests instead on its position within Denis's filmography as a rare contemporary film noir, and on the festival circuit it traveled, from Cannes and Toronto to New York, Stockholm, Seville, and Hong Kong.[7](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/news/this-noir-bastards) • [1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/235506/)
## References
1. [Bastards (Les Salauds), Cineuropa](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/235506/)
2. [Cannes Film Review: 'Bastards', Variety](https://variety.com/2013/film/global/cannes-film-review-bastards-1200489090/)
3. [Bastards, Film at Lincoln Center](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/bastards/)
4. [Bastards, Independent Film Company (Sundance Selects)](https://www.independentfilmco.com/films/bastards)
5. [Bastards Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/bastards/)
6. [Bastards (2013), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2821088/)
7. [This is noir: The Bastards, Sight and Sound (BFI)](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/news/this-noir-bastards)
8. [Bastards (Les Salauds) – review, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/p/3mkzp)
9. [Bastards (Les Salauds), Harvard Film Archive](https://harvardfilmarchive.org/programs/claire-denis-bastards/1)
10. [Bastards, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_bastards)
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