French thriller from Academy Award-winnng director Claude Lelouch, in which best-selling author Judith Ralitzer (Fanny Ardant) is researching unlikely places to find characters for her next bestseller.
As luck would have it, a serial killer with a penchant for magic tricks has just escaped from a high-security prison - providing the perfect source material for an intricately plotted, moody mystery. She hopes...
Veteran French filmmaker Claude Lelouch gets ambitious, helming a murder mystery with a decidedly continental flavour. While your standard modern thriller is primarily concerned with building tension, this film is just as interested in using the story’s unknown elements to create a sense of unease that is just as powerful and far more original. His chosen approach of subtle suggestiveness mostly pays great dividends.
Lead actors Dominique Pinon and Audery Dana both come out of this looking great. Pinon switches from creepy and menacing to sympathetic as the script demands while Dana adds loads of great little touches as her character is fleshed out. All the while Lelouch uses long dissolves, picturesque photography and a fitting soundtrack to conjure an ironic, superficial romanticism that is perfect for the theme of image versus reality. Only the odd script element, such as a plot twist that leads nowhere or a red herring played out too long, detract from its obvious strengths, including some pitch perfect French farce.
Ultimately, the story’s final destination is perhaps a touch pat considering the inventive flair that has preceded it. The ride to get there though is absolutely engrossing, featuring great performances and touches from a director working at the top of his game.
By Andreas Heinemann, Flicks.co.nz
Huge fan of Fanny Ardant, her voice is amazing and so is her acting. Dominique Pinon (Delicatessen) is one of the great second roles in French cinema. It is a great thriller. It is not Hollywood spectacular but it is very efficient and somehow easy to relate, I really got into the story. It is a breath of fresh air in this genre.
Ooh, ooh, I can't wait to screen this film here at the Academy Cinemas! Not only do I love French films, but this one is full of unexpected twists and turns. Plus seriously good acting and a layered story that suprises and intrigues! Love it!
It's so clever that finally that's all it is: clever.
The result is infectiously enjoyable.
The freshness and originality that flow through Roman de Gare now burst into full flower, revealing the director's depth and perception.
A thriller, a murder mystery and a somewhat self-conscious literary puzzle. All of that is entertaining enough, if a bit preposterous and overdone, but the twists and convolutions of the film’s beginning and end enable a middle that is dizzying domestic comedy.
Picture gets an undeniable boost from the ace performance of the short, beady-eyed Pinon.
We've been told the NZ release date for this flick is Thursday, 14th May 2009.
Release date: May 14th 2009.
We haven't received times for this movie in this location yet. However these are updated as cinemas announce them, so check back soon. Hopefully the lovely cinemas in your location will choose to play it shortly. ~Ed.
