Ni pour, ni contre (bien au contraire) (2003) - film review

Catherine is reflecting on her disappointing career as a television journalist when she is approached by Jean, a good-looking gangster who makes her an unusual job offer.  With some reluctance, Catherine agrees to film a robbery committed by Jean and his merry band of crooks.  This first taste of crime serves the young woman well and she is soon accepted as a member of Jean’s gang.  However, she has second thoughts when Jean proposes a daring bank robbery, in which she must play the role of a prostitute…

After the disappointing fantasy Peut-être (1999) and a handful of entertaining social satires, director Cédric Klapisch turns his distinctive style of filmmaking to that most successful of all genres, the policier.  Ni pour ni contre is pure film noir, rigorously faithful to the traditions of the genre, yet laced with that familiar brand of Klapisch humour.   A talented cast is headed by Marie Gillain and Vincent Elbaz, both of whom are convincing, bringing a human dimension and a keen gritty edge to a familiar scenario.  To some extent, Klapisch adheres a little too closely to the form of the classic French crime thriller.  There’s not a great deal of originality in the characterisation or the plot, and the film loses momentum in its middle third.  However, Bruno Delbonnel’s seductive photography and a tense, gory plot climax help to gloss over these weaker points, making this a stylistic and strangely gratifying take on a popular genre.

© James Travers 2006

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