La Disparue de Deauville (2007) - film review

Jacques, a solitary cop based in Le Havre, is investigating the mysterious death of a man in a sumptuous palace on the Normandy coast.  As he does so, he is visited by a once well-known actress, Victoria, who died thirty years ago.  Just what secrets lie hidden in the place where the man died, and how can Victoria help Jacques resolve the mystery...?

La Disparue de Deauville, Sophie Marceau’s second directorial turn, offers much but delivers frustratingly little, despite its substantial budget, some ambitious action sequences and a solid performance from Christopher Lambert.  The film, a twisted comicbook-style concoction of ghost story, film noir thriller, and murder mystery, is a massive departure from Marceau’s tentative first film, Parlez-moi d’amour (2002), an almost plotless family drama that makes a nice alternative to sleeping tablets.

Although Marceau shows great promise as a filmmaker, her lack of restraint and overly zealous attempts to be more original than she needs to prevent her from delivering a well-structured piece of cinema that you can actually sit down and enjoy.  The main failing with this film, however, lies in the script.  The plot is a rambling beast that lacks credibility and coherence, so that by the time Marceau has done her industrial strength Andrzej Zulawski impression it is all but incomprehensible.  For all its sins, La Disparue de Deauville does have a very distinctive style and certainly is not dull.  If only she exercised a little more self-restraint Sophie Marceau could yet have a remarkable filmmaking career ahead of her.

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