|
Overview
Secret défense is a French thriller film first released in 2008,
directed by Philippe Haïm.
The film stars Gérard Lanvin, Vahina Giocante, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Mehdi Nebbou and Rachida Brakni.
It has also been released under the title: Secret Defence.
Our overall rating for this film is: mediocre.
Synopsis
When she fails to get a potentially lucrative work placement, Diane, a
language student, is offered another kind of job by Alex, the father of
her friend Jeremy. Alex is head of France’s counter-terrorist
department and sees that Diane has the potential to make a good
agent. Meanwhile, petty crook Pierre falls under the influence of
Aziz, an Islamist fanatic who believes that terrorism is a legitimate
means to achieve his objectives. The destinies of Diane and
Pierre are about to become inextricably linked...
Film Review
Secret défense starts
from an interesting premise - to show how the techniques employed by
Islamic terrorists to recruit and train their warriors
are mirrored by those of the national security services - it
falls down massively in the execution. Too slavishly enamoured of
the latest species of Hollywood action blockbuster, director Philippe
Haïm delivers a punchy, visually striking film that is all but
lacking in substance. This is clearly not the same
Haïm that previously brought us the idiosyncratic black comedy Barracuda
(1997) and the live-action Lucky Luke fiasco Les Dalton (2004). Secret défense is formulaic,
soulless and of interest only to those who derive a gutless
satisfaction from watching mindless spectacles of violence. Had
more effort gone into the screenwriting, had Haïm shown more
restraint in his offputtingly showy mise-en-scène (most of the
film was shot with hand-held-cameras, and it shows) and avoided the
needlessly frenetic editing, had the actors been invited to tone down
their performances, then this may have been something worth
watching. As it is, it is just another shallow, self-indulgent
action fest, clichéd to death and completely lacking in
characterisation and narrative focus.
© filmsdefrance.com 2011 Write a review for this film... User Comments
What do you think of this film?
Related links
Top 100 French filmsRecent DVD releases |
Credits
Similar films:
If you like this film you may also like the following: À bout portant (2010) Anna M. (2007) Avant l’aube (2011) Carlos (2010) Ce jour-là (2003) Coup d’éclat (2011) Demain dès l’aube (2009) L’Enfer (1994) Feux rouges (2004) La Fleur du mal (2003) Les Herbes folles (2009) L’Heure zéro (2007) Olivier, Olivier (1992) Un prophète (2009) |


