LFF 2011 Diary, Day 6: Nobody Else But You (Rating: ****) With no end of ironic humour, noirish vibes and general oddity, Nobody Else But You is one of this year’s bizarre indulgences at the London Film Festival. In tone more with American independent cinema, there is a stark absence of a French aesthetic that may both surprise and avert audiences. Just as the Coen Brothers had subverted the American noir genre with the wintery postmodern thriller Fargo, Nobody Else But You is comparably ‘film blanc’ in style. With similarly snow covered surroundings to the Coen’s Minnesota based crime-drama, the remote town of Moute exercises the all of the eccentricities and idiosyncrasies that you would expect to find in such a place. When Parisian author David, who rather entertaingly specialises in writing absurd sounding pulp novels, comes to collect his inheriatnce after the passing of a relative, he finds inspiration for a new book in the mysterious death of a local beauty queen. After discovering the victims diaries, David begins to question the police’s verdict of suicide and suspects murder. In keeping with the postmodern style that has come to typify American independent cinema, Nobody Else But You is positively Pynchon-esque. Like Thomas Pynchon’s novels, Nobody Else But You is layered with cultural references and avoids the conventional detective narrative. Rather than focus on the ‘whodunnit’, the story is more about the victim and thier own personal backstory. And in Candice, David becomes fascinated with her apparent reflection of Marilyn Monroe. Subsequent in-jokes about Monroe’s infamy provide the film’s high kicks.
Nobody Else But You also arrives at a time when the cult of Marilyn Monroe seems to be going through an artistic resurgence - if indeed her image has at all diminished. US productionMy Week With Marilyn is on the near horizon and recent auctions of her personal items have proven Monroe is iconic as ever. Nobody Else But You more than references a film such as Fargo and even directly honours the Coen’s with scens in a bowling alleys, no doubt lifted from The Big Lebowski, and even the film’s structure reminds you of the open ended mystery of No Country Fo Old Men and A Serious Man. But with a wickedly dark sense of ironic humour, director Gerald Hustache-Mathieu has a film that is above and beyond a simple homage to the Coen’s. It’s quick witted and isn’t afraid to pull some comic punches. JJ