Escalier C (1985) - film review

Forster, a cynical and anti-social art-critic has a room in Staircase C of an ordinary apartment block.  He tolerates but does not particularly enjoy the company of his neighbours, who include an unemployed scrounger Bruno, a gay costume designer Claude, and a failed writer Virgile who is constantly falling in and out with his girlfriend Béatrice.   Forster’s jaded outlook on life is suddenly changed when one of his neighbours commits suicide...

Escalier C is a competently realised but not particularly memorable depiction of how events and experiences can radically alter a person’s view of the world and result in a profound inner transformation.   The film is based on the prize-winning novel by Elvire Murail, although it has a totally different ending (in the novel, the central character Forster becomes homosexual).

Whether it is because of this tinkering with the original plot or not, the film doesn’t really ring true.  Despite a creditable performance by Robin Renucci, his character, Forster, is just too obviously obnoxious ever to win over the audience’s sympathy, and his transformation towards the end of the film appears mildly ludicrous.

© James Travers 2002

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