52 Films by Women Vol 9. 30. The Fence (Director: Claire Denis)

 

Pictured: Alboury (Isaach de Bankolé) patiently awaits the release of his brother's body in a scene from 'The Fence', director Claire Denis' adaptation of Bernard-Marie Koltes' 1979 play, 'Black Battles with Dogs'. Still: (c) Curiosa, Saint Laurent, Vixens

In her 79^th year, French director Claire Denis returns to Africa for her 17^th fictional feature film, The Fence, an English language drama based on a French play, ‘Black Battles With Dogs’ by Bernard-Marie Koltes, first performed in 1979. Alboury (Denis’ frequent collaborator, Isaach de Bankolé) appears at the fence of a ‘West African construction site’ to claim the body of his brother (Brian Begnan) apparently hit by a bulldozer; the film’s production notes specify the setting as Nigeria. He insists on do so immediately in order to assuage the grief of the deceased’s mother. The foreman, Horn (Matt Dillon in his third collaboration with a French female director in six years, after Proxima and Being Maria, in the latter cast as Marlon Brando) is reluctant to release the body for a reason. The worker was shot for leaving the site one hour early by Cal (Tom Blyth), Horn’s assistant. Meanwhile, Cal is tasked with collecting Horn’s bride Leone (Mia McKenna-Bruce) from the airport. She met Horn when he was treated for another (so-called) accident which led to a substantial payout. Horn invited his bride to join him at the site prior to the operation being transferred to the Chinese. Leone is young and, it is implied, easily impressed by the charismatic Horn, for whom she feels some sympathy. ‘You know where he was injured?’ asks Cal rhetorically. The contrast between American Horn and his English bride, whose medical supplies are kept in a make-up bag labelled ‘Babe’, couldn’t be wider.

Denis’ interest in Africans and the African diaspora runs through her career – her 1988 debut film, Chocolat, also starring Isaach de Bankolé was set in Cameroon, as was her follow-up concert film, Man No Run. Denis’ French-set films arguably provide more nuanced roles for African actors, where the focus is less on what might be termed ‘white characters losing their shit’. In translating the play to screen, she collaborated with writers Andrew Litvack (High Life, Stars At Noon) and Suzanne Lindon, the actress-writer-director daughter of frequent collaborator, Vincent Lindon, with whom she was worked with most recently on her 2022 film, Both Sides of the Blade.

As dramas go, The Fence (French title: Le Cri des Gardes) doesn’t take the ‘white characters losing their shit’ genre to new and interesting areas. Some of the dialogue is very stagey. ‘I’m a foreman,’ Horn tells Alboury repeatedly, ‘I have no say in what goes on’. Horn gets worked up about Alboury refusing his offer of whiskey to be drunk in the compound. ‘I’ll leave when I have the body,’ is the brother’s constant refrain.

Pictured: 'There's no talking to this guy.' Horn (Matt Dillon) in a scene from the Nigeria-set drama, 'The Fence', director Claire Denis' English-language adaptation of Bernard-Marie Koltes' 1979 play, 'Black Battles With Dogs'. Still (c) Curoisa, Saint Laurent, Vixens

Denis isn’t too concerned about the film’s staginess, which extends to a blackout, an uncontrolled release of fireworks, and a gap appearing in the fence that allows cattle to be herded through and drink from a water source. Verisimilitude has its limits. In casting McKenna-Bruce, whose previous starring role was in the Brits abroad drama, How To Have Sex, and Blyth who starred in the recent Hunger Games film, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, Denis relies on their ease in front of the camera to give her film some credibility.

Dillon, an actor over sixty-years-old who retains his youthful looks from 1980s movies such as Rumble Fish and The Flamingo Kid – only the silver hair on his chest is a giveaway – oozes insincerity. He is cast as a man who wants to appear accommodating but is playing for time. No matter how many times Horn tells Alboury that he’ll get the body in the morning, neither we nor Alboury believes him. Alboury is polite, deferential, referring to Horn as ‘sir’, but insistent. Horn tries to distract him by mentioning the arrival of his wife. Alboury tells him that it will be good for a woman to join Horn; he is prepared to regard Leone from a distance.

Cal begs Horn to cover for him (‘you owe me’) but Horn refuses to add to Cal’s deception (‘you’ll work something out’). The unbridgeable gap ends in a fist fight. Each man hurts the other and you’d probably give the bout to Horn on points as Cal sets off to retrieve the body during a power cut. ‘I’m in construction, you’re in demolition,’ Horn reminds Cal as if to demonstrate moral superiority.

Pictured: 'You owe me.' Cal (Tom Blyth) drinks his way through his boss' impasse in a scene from 'The Fence', director Claire Denis' English language adaptation of Bernard-Marie Koltes' 1979 play, 'Black Battles With Dogs'. Still: (c) Curiosa, Saint Laurent, Vixens

In the opening, a West African woman lays what looks like palm leaves on the spot where the worker was shot. We see recent bulldozer tracks and liquid (but not dried blood). At the sentry posts, the guards call out to each other. It is their way of conveying that all is well.

Leone briefly speaks to Alboury. ‘Are you speaking your language?’ she asks. ‘Our language,’ Alboury replies, insisting on not being marginalised. He has no quarrel with her and tells to go in the house, or rather into a corrugated iron facility where Horn sleeps.

Then aged 20, Suzanne Lindon was feted for being the youngest director to ever have a film selected for the Cannes Film Festival, that is, Spring Blossom, listed rather than shown in the Covid-affected event in the autumn of 2020. One wonders about her contribution to the script of The Fence. Possibly Cal’s concerns about Leone’s shoes. ‘You should have heel protection,’ he tells her. Perhaps it is Leone’s insistence that Cal should not call her ‘babe’ after the branding on her medical supplies bag. McKenna-Bruce has one very good scene when she settles into Horn’s room, Leone showing him her pills, complaining of feeling dizzy, presenting herself to be ravaged and complains about bringing all the wrong clothes. McKenna-Bruce makes her shifts in mood seem natural. However, it is hard to why Horn would regard her as exceptional. We wonder if he just impressed that he could seduce such a young woman. ‘It’s unreal,’ Leone concludes at one point. ‘No,’ Cal tells her, ‘it’s real.’

The workers wait for ‘the boss’ before serving dinner, a meal that never takes place. Over the course of the night, Cal chugs three bottles of champagne while Leone drinks water.

Although it separates Alboury and Horn, the fence is far less of a symbol than the title suggests. There are other divisions at play. On the drive from the airport to the construction site, Cal’s truck is overtaken by two vehicles. ‘Oil workers’, Cal remarks disdainfully. He accelerates and goes off-road, overtaking the two vehicles. Still driving fast, the truck collides with a bird. Cal and Leone inspect it. ‘It has blue feathers,’ remarks Leone. Cal bashes its skull with a rock, which underlines his ‘killer’ credentials. In a later scene, Leone wipes up the red soil detritus from the bottom of the shower left there by Cal. ‘We don’t have AC. We just have to keep the windows open,’ he tells her on the drive to her new home. Hence the dust’s assault on the pores on one’s skin.

Cal’s alcohol consumption and the residual tension with Alboury lead to a dramatic conclusion. Denis’ films sometimes continue beyond the circumscriptions of her narrative. The Fence is no different. The credits roll over images of a drive back, showing life outside of western or Chinese facilities. De Bankolé anchors the film with his dignity, embodying Alboury’s singleness of purpose.

Reviewed at Screen Five, Picturehouse Central, Shaftesbury Avenue, Central London, 08:45am, Monday 13 October 2025, London Film Festival Press and Industry screening.