L'Examen de minuit (1998)
Directed by Danièle Dubroux

Film Review

Directed by Danièle Dubroux, who also stars in the film (along side some other high calibre acting talent in the form of Julie Depardieu and François Cluzet), L'Examen de minuit is a quintessentially Gallic mix of drama and black comedy which occasionally trips up in its forced attempts to be quaint and original. On the plus side, the film is stylishly photographed, giving an authentic-looking picture of rural life in France, complete with colourful rustic characters.  The film goes some way to portraying the ennui and eccentricities of country life (where else could one man pull off a bank robbery in broad daylight and make a safe getaway on a bicycle?).

Where the film falls down is that it perhaps goes too far in playing up its characters' eccentricities. Although all of the main characters in the film have some kind of emotional or mental impairment, which could to some extent justify their unconventional behaviour, very little in the film seems to ring true.  Despite commendable performances from all of the lead actors, the characters they are portraying just feel too contrived or too under-developed to be convincing.  The way in which all of the characters go sudden changes in behaviour is also suspect - for example, one minute Antoine is holding a gun at Roland's head, the next minute he is prepared to risk his life to save him: why ?

L'Examen de minuit is certainly a watchable film, but its flawed character development and unconvincing plot (particularly the ending) mars the pleasure of watching the film. Dubroux's previous films Border Line (1992) and Le Journal du séducteur (1996) are just as idiosyncratic but, offering far more in the way of a coherent narrative, they manage to be somewhat more satisfying.

Film Synopsis

Keen to find a husband, Séréna places an ad in the newspapers, and receives a promising reply from a landowner living in Chateauneuf-sur-Rhône.  Shortly after arriving in the rural town, she realises that he is not what she was looking for, but she stays in the area, getting a job as a barmaid.  She is soon noticed by a farm worker, Roland, who, after a life of solitude, finds he is in love with her.  He robs a bank to buy a château and persuades Séréna to marry him.  On the wedding night, Séréna absconds, and meets up with a writer, Antonine, who suffers from fits of paranoia and depression.  Antonine is enchanted by Séréna and takes her to his attic where he works, keeping her locked up their during the day.  When she hears about this, Antonine's wife, Marianne, walks out.   She is on her way back to Paris when she decides to seek out Roland to let him know where his wife Séréna is living...