Film Review
Le Grand jeu marks an impressive feature debut for director Nicolas
Pariser, who previously won the Prix Jean Vigo for his short film
La République
(2010).
It is the kind of cerebral political thriller that is more
likely to have been made on the other side of the English Channel -
The Ghost Writer meets
House of Cards with a soupçon of
Edge of Darkness -
but Pariser gives it a shot of Gallic romanticism that helps to set it apart
from British examples of the genre. At a time when mainstream French
thrillers are becoming increasingly action-oriented and moving ever closer
towards the crass American model, it is refreshing to come across one that
is more concerned with character and well thought-out intrigue than wearisome
rushing about and gory punch-ups for no discernible purpose.
The film was inspired by a high-profile news story from 2008 - the so-called
'Tarnac affair' in which a community of nine people were arrested in a village
in central France for alleged anarchist conspiracy. Whilst the nature
of the threat facing western democracy has changed dramatically (from leftwing
extremists to murderous Islamic fundamentalists), the film still has a powerful
resonance, and there is something chillingly plausible in the idea of a government
resorting to a Machiavellian shaping of popular culture to further its ends
(which invariably involve eroding civil liberties in the pursuance of even
greater powers to control the populace).
Nicolas Pariser shows flair on both the writing and directing fronts, and
whilst he is perhaps a little too strongly influenced by previous films of
this kind, he shows himself to be a director of considerable promise.
The film's main strength is the ambiguous relationship (a modern variation
on Mephistopheles' corruption of Faust) between the protagonists - a government
official who is never quite what he seems (a creepily charming André
Dussollier) and the disillusioned writer who is duped into writing a novel
to stir up political trouble (Melvil Poupaud in an unusually sympathetic
role). When the plot starts to take over in the film's second half,
this is where the focus starts to drift and, try as he might, Pariser fails
to deliver the tidy payoff the film needs to be totally effective.
Magnetic performances from Dussollier and Poupaud render most of the supporting
cast superfluous, although it is a treat to see both of these great actors
served with a script that is worthy of their respective talents.
Le
Grand jeu is a compelling, elegantly crafted study in deception and manipulation
that is guaranteed to send a shiver down the spine.
© James Travers 2015
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Film Synopsis
Pierre Blum is a writer in his mid-forties who had his biggest successes
at the start of the 2000s. One evening, outside a casino, he meets
a stranger, Joseph Paskin, who appears keen to talk to him. An influential
figure in the political world, the latter offers Pierre a vital mission that
will re-immerse him in a past he had hoped to forget whilst putting his life
in danger. As he becomes embroiled in a murky political intrigue, the
writer can hardly help falling in love with Laura, an extreme leftwing political
activist. But can Pierre afford to trust anyone in this world where
nothing is quite what it seems...?
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.