A NEW LIFE

From the film's very first shots, we find ourselves in Philippe Grandrieux's unique universe, as a hand-held, grainy image moves and flickers towards a a group of people looking expectantly upwards. We don't know what it is they are looking at, and we have no idea where we are. The burnt out, war-ravaged landscape, with bombed-out buildings standing in the middle of empty fields, is reminiscent of Bosnia or Chechnya. A young woman is picked out of a line of captives. Her long hair is cut, and she ends up working as a prostitute in a strip club. A young American sees her and begins to pursue her, seeking her out for a sexual encounter, a fact which marks the beginning of his obsession with her...