Claire Denis' filmography is characterized by an exploration of the fragile connections between people, revealing how the most seemingly inconsequential relationships can have profound, life-changing effects. At the heart of her cinematic work lies a fascination with the complexities of belonging and otherness, the gravity and gift of foreignness, and the vital necessity of the unusual to coexist within the "normal" world.
Her films, such as I Can't Sleep (1994) and Nénette and Boni (1996),masterfully capture the mercurial and instant shifts in tone, from the pleasurably sensual to the menacing or the simply unaccountable, caused by the intrusion of the strange into the fabric of the everyday. This theme is exemplified by the way her characters often find themselves in situations where all appears well, even as worlds collide and collapse, or conversely, where a grave challenge underlies the seemingly calm moments.
Denis' childhood in French colonial Africa has had a lasting impact on her work, with the African setting of her debut feature Chocolat (1988) and best-known film, Beau Travail (1999),reflecting her experiences in a direct and profound way. This encounter with the intimacies and injustices of colonialism resonates throughout much of her work.
Denis' unique vision is also shaped by the apprenticeships she served under renowned directors, including Jacques Rivette, Wim Wenders, Dusan Makavejev, and Jim Jarmusch. This eclectic company of mentors is itself suggestive of the unique juxtaposition of careful craft and seeming casualness within Denis' work.
Denis has often spoken of her shock as a young woman at discovering the novels of Faulkner, which have exerted a major influence over postwar French cinema. For her, Faulkner's work was a plunge into the senses, into terror and the pain of his characters, and this is a description that also aptly describes her own films.
However, whatever terror and pain her characters may sometimes experience is outmeasured by the depths of her deep affection for them and by her curiosity in their experiences of pleasure as well as fear. Even in the unsettling Trouble Every Day (2001),the not-infrequent catastrophes in her films provoke a sense of wonder at, and even delight in, the sheer weight of existence.
