appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

liveArticle

appConfig

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sectionsV2

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

json

Clarence Tsui

Starring: Emmanuelle Beart, Karin Viard, Marie Gillain

Director: Danis Tanovic

Category: IIB (French)

Just before the final credits roll on Danis Tanovic's Hell,   the words, 'For K.K.'  appear in white on the black screen.  They're the initials of the late Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieslowski, whose  idea it was - before his  sudden death in March 1996 - to produce a trio of films based on the three canticas of Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy.

Hell is the second instalment in the series, which  features screenplays by Kieslowski's longtime  collaborator Krzysztof Piesiewicz. Heaven, directed by  Tom Tykwer, was released four years ago.

Heaven and Hell are poles apart. Unlike Tykwer - who injected  his trade- mark street-wise spunk, with over-whelmingly disastrous results - Tanovic shows more reverence for the  inspiration.  Indeed, Hell could be seen as a feature-length tribute to Kieslowski.

All the aesthetical details are here: the close-ups - especially of  eyes, but also of objects those eyes land on - that  reveal  the characters' emotions; the use of colour filters to  indicate mood and emotion; and the  frequent use of symbols. Even spectres from Kieslowski's own films are present  in Hell, with the appearance of a bottle-dispatching old woman bringing smiles to those familiar with the Three Colours trilogy. Of course, it takes more than just visual style to make a good film. And Hell  thrives in nearly every department. By interweaving the dead-end lives of three sisters, Piesiewicz has pieced together a remarkable web of deceit and despair. Scarred by a  tragedy in their parent's generation, the protagonists are  embroiled in an existence where one has, to paraphrase Dante,  'abandoned all hope,  ye who enter here'.

Celine (Karin Viard) is trapped in a celibate, loveless life - until a young man appears at her doorstep on a regular basis; Sophie (Emmanuelle Beart) teeters on the edge as she  learns about the infidelity of  her photographer husband; and Anne (Marie Gillain) plummets into madness  as her professor lover  returns to  being a monogamous, loving husband and father.

Although the three tales are developed with conviction and in  detail, Tanovic manages to pull together the different strands with a visual and lyrical flourish,  bringing the film to a finale that explains the framework that underlines the siblings' apparently divergent destinies.

What makes Hell a captivating piece is Tanovic's persistence in drawing doom and gloom throughout the film. The conclusion may provide answers,  but it offers not a shed of hope for the protagonists. With stunningly effective performances from  the cast,  Hell is a success all round.

Hell screens as the finale to the Remembering Kieslowski retrospective,  Sat (Palace IFC), Sun (Broadway Cinematheque), 9.40pm; then on  general release from Aug 10



Hell (L'Enfer)