Tristan (2003)

Tristan is a French thriller film first released in 2003, directed by Philippe Harel.  The film stars Mathilde Seigner, Jean-Jacques Vanier, Jean-Louis Loca, Sandrine Le Berre and Nicole Garcia.  Our overall rating for this film is: good.


Emmanuelle Barsac, a young police commissioner, is distracted from her investigations into the Bulgarian mafia by the suicide of a young woman.  Before she died, the unfortunate woman was caught up in an intense love affair with a man who persuaded her to break all ties with her friends and family.  Soon after, Emmanuelle is alerted to a second suicide, with virtually identical circumstances to the first.  Both victims kept a diary in which the course of the romance appears identical, and each woman received a leather-bound copy of “Tristan and Iseult” from their fatal lover.  Convinced that a serial killer is at work, Emmanuelle begins her investigation, unaware that it may bring about her own destruction…

This deliciously composed psychological thriller would be almost perfect were it not for a plot which is, at best, implausible, and a denouement which is both rushed and more than a little silly.  Like any good thriller, the film has no difficulty holding its audience’s attention but, in contrast to an exceptionally good thriller, the intrigue and fascination leads ultimately nowhere.  Evidently, the journey is far more rewarding than the arrival: the film is high on Hitchcockian style, but disappointingly low on substance.

Most of the deficiencies of the plot are easily overlooked thanks, largely, to Philippe Harel’s confident direction (which offers more than a passing nod to the masters of the thriller genre) and some fine contributions from a talented cast.  Mathilde Seigner makes a good tough police inspector, uncompromising and spontaneous, although had she shown a softer, more vulnerable, side we might have felt more sympathy for her character.  Oddly, the supporting characters are better drawn and portrayed than the film’s main character – from the mysterious Tristan to Emmanuelle’s cosy parents, not to overlook Jean-Jacques Vanier’s poignant portrayal of Emmanuelle’s luckless assistant, Cadoret.  Some unexpected comic touches remind us that the film isn’t to be taken too seriously, so the best way to appreciate this latest Harel offering is probably with one’s tongue pressed firmly against one’s cheek.

© James Travers 2005

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