Aux yeux du monde (1990)
Directed by Eric Rochant

Film Review

Eric Rochart's follow up to his remarkable debut feature Un monde sans pitié (1989) is another intense drama in which Yvan Attal impresses in first lead role along side his future long-term partner Charlotte Gainsbourg. The plot may be a tad far-fetched - Attal goes A.W.O.L. when a dare gets somewhat out of hand - but it gives its lead actor a chance to demonstrate his dramatic range, which he does with a vengeance. Utterly engaging in some scenes, Attal is quite terrifying in others, and the apparently schizoid nature of his personality is reflected in Rochart's vibrant direction, which makes this a memorable roller-coaster of a journey.

And then there are the two leading ladies - Kristin Scott Thomas in one of her earliest screen roles (six years before her breakthrough in Anthony Minghella's The English Patient) and Charlotte Gainsbourg moving on from her adolescent roles in L'Effrontée (1985) and Charlotte for Ever (1986). Both actresses leave their mark on Aux yeux du monde, even though it is clearly Attal's film, with the lead actor driving the narrarative like an intoxicated joyrider to a thoroughly gripping conclusion. After this first collaboration, Rochant and Attal teamed up for another film that would be one of the best French thrillers of the 1990s, Les Patriotes (1994).

Film Synopsis

Bruno is a 22 year old man who is fed up with his mediocre life and desperately wants to make a wild dramatic gesture to prove to himself and the world that he exists.  He gets an idea into his head when he collects his younger brother from the school bus one day.  Armed with a revolver, he forces himself into a coach and takes everyone aboard - the driver, a teacher and dozens of schoolchildren - hostage.  Once the moment of panic has passed, the coach is soon on its way northwards, heading for the place where Bruno's girlfriend Juliette lives.  In the course of the long journey, the kidnapper becomes calmer and ends up befriending the children, who by now look as if they are enjoying the unexpected excursion.  Even the teacher and chauffeur that Bruno had earlier threatened at gunpoint come to sympathise with him, to the extent that they cannot bring themselves to betray him to the authorities.  When Bruno telephone his girlfriend he is taken aback by her reaction.  Meanwhile, the mass kidnapping has become a major news item and Bruno has achieved his objective better than he could ever have imagined...