Sauf le respect que je vous dois (2005) - film review

François Durrieux ought to be a happy man.  He has a well-paid job, a sympathetic wife and a son that he loves.  But mid-life crisis is looming and when it strikes, it strikes with a vengeance.  The trigger is the suicide of one of his colleagues, who was also a personal friend.  The man was found dead in his office shortly after being dismissed by his employer.  François is so shocked by this that he resigns and later takes his revenge out on his boss.  His life has only just begun to fall apart...

This first feature from Fabienne Godet, a former psychologist turned director, promises much – an impressive cast (including Oscar winner Marion Cotillard) and an intriguing opening sequence in the film noir tradition.  Things start off well enough – the performances and camerawork bring a striking realism and an intense mood of oppression and hopelessness, whilst the first person perspective effectively conveys to us the troubled psychological state of the central protagonist.

The problems emerge towards the middle of the film when some awkward contrivances creep into the plot and the secondary characters appear too thinly sketched for them to support the rest of the narrative.  The relentlessly austere mood of the film soon becomes monotonous and, far from winning our sympathy, the main character begins to appear unlikeable, despite a creditable performance from Olivier Gourmet.  Sauf le respect que je vous dois is an acceptable debut film with many strengths but it suffers from a slight lack of focus and credibility in the screenwriting department.

© filmsdefrance.com 2009

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