Film Review
La Resistance de l'air is the
debut feature from French-Canadian director Fred Grivois, who
previously worked as an assistant on Jacques Audiard's
Un
prophète (2009). Two other Audiard
collaborators, screenwriters Thomas Bidegain and Noé
Debré, supplied the script, which shares some plot similarities
with the one they worked on for Audiard's recent
Dheepan
(2015). Like the latter film, Grivois attempts to combine bleak
social drama and hard-edged noir thriller, but far less successfully,
and his film fails to achieve an effective balance as it shifts back
and forth between the two ill-matched genres. The
film's plot has some obvious similarities with James Hadley Chase's
1970 novel
Hole in the Head,
although this receives no on-screen credit.
That Grivois is strongly influenced by American cinema is apparent in
the film's distinctly un-Gallic presentation, which is grittier and
gloomier than that of your average French thriller. Competently
directed as the film is, it has a job trying to sustain the tension and
whilst it promises much it doesn't really take off, spending most of
its time building up to situations that never materialise. In his
lead role, Reda Kateb (one of the emerging talents of French cinema in
recent years) gives the film his best shot but his commendable
angst-ridden performance is somehow lost, undermined by some laboured
mise-en-scène and a script that lacks character depth and
coherence. Whilst Johan Heldenbergh brings the appropriate
note of menace and foreboding to his character, Ludivine Sagnier is
completely wasted in an underwritten and mostly superfluous supporting
role. Overall,
La Resistance
de l'air is a mundane thriller that, despite a strong central
performance from Kateb, fails to make much of an impression.
© James Travers 2015
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Film Synopsis
Vincent leads a peaceful but uneventful life with his wife Delphine and
daughter Alexia. He has taken up rifle shooting as a hobby to
escape the monotony of an otherwise empty existence, and has graduated
to championship level in his sport of choice. When his
ageing father falls ill, Vincent has no choice but to accommodate him
in his already crowded home. If only he had more money, he could
move to a bigger house where life would be so much more
comfortable. A chance meeting at the rifle range provides
Vincent with what seems to be an easy solution to his financial
worries. A stranger who call himself Renaud offers him a contract
which, if fulfilled, will earn him some easy cash. Unable to
resist the bait, Vincent accepts it, but soon lives to regret the
decision as his life starts to spiral out of control...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.