Give Me Your Hand

Give Me Your Hand is one of the more unusual films out there, and I say that as a compliment. This bonkers French-language sci-fi fantasy is, to put it in the simplest terms, a film about letting go of the past. But then again, this film doesn’t work in simple terms. In addition to being an incredibly abstract, multidimensional adventure which is constantly jumping through time and versions of reality, this movie clocks in at an unapologetic 169 minutes long – meaning that to get something out of the viewing experience, one needs to be in a pretty specific mood. Yet if you’re in the right frame of mind, and can lock into the picture’s unique mode of nonsense, it ends up being a ridiculously entertaining exercise in genre storytelling.

The narrative tracks a combination of characters whose fates, minds and souls seem to intersect; with the main focus being the dynamic between Adam (Jérémie Agbessi) and William (Kévin Sakac -- also the film’s writer-director). Following a disastrous car crash, Adam wakes in a different plane of existence – one with its own rules, an intangible logic. Neither he nor William have any memory of who they are or why they are. All they know is that they’re being hunted by ‘entities’. Eventually, like a murder-mystery, the quest becomes finding their memories, and putting all the pieces together. What we see can effectively be interpreted as the physical manifestation of a traumatised mind (or minds), and the battles that take place within the psyche.

Allow us to address the fact that the film is gibberish and makes no sense. As opposed to viewing this as a criticism or indication of quality, it would be more useful to consider it a creative choice from which this three-hour fever dream gets its formless style. Its constant-action, constant-exposition approach, bizarrely enough, makes the runtime fly by. Nothing else is paced like this! Although, having said that, as great as the random logic might be, the rules of how the characters are to navigate the world and defeat the creatures aren't clear. So, as the film gets deeper into the fantasy, objective-based dialogue, it becomes difficult for the audience to remain excited about everything that’s happening.

The most amazing thing this movie has going for it is its sense of genuine fun. We’re talking knights in armor riding horses, sword fights in pretty much every other scene past the half-an-hour mark, and weird mini music video intervals which feel in conversation with how Twin Peaks: The Return separates its episodes. There’s an entire act of this movie devoted to Lancelot and King Arthur! -- and if you’re not enjoying the film at that point, I don’t know what more you want. It’s a wonderful thing to witness a work consistently out-do itself through increasingly absurd set-pieces. If you happen to have three hours to spare upon this film’s release, and are incredibly open-minded, I would recommend you give Give Me Your Hand a go. You’ll find that you can’t help but fall in love with this sincere, nonsensical action-fest.