Film Review
For his first film, actor-turned director Alain Bévérini opted to adapt a respectable
crime novel by Jean-Claude Izzo.
The result is a stylish but ponderous crime thriller
which has all the qualities of the classic French policier but tends
to get somewhat bogged down in cliché and convention. The post
noir cinematography and menacing musical score help to make up for
the deficiencies in the mundane script and
Bévérini's distinctly unadventurous mise-en-scène,
lending the atmosphere and tension the film badly needs to maintain our interest.
Total Kheops complicates what is already a complex plot by inserting into
the main narrative flashback sequences depicting the principal characters' rebellious
youth. This obvious attempt at cobbled-on sophistication serves merely to
undermine the pace and dramatic thrust of the film, preventing it from
being the first-rate thriller it ought to have been. Not only do the flashbacks
disrupt the narrative flow, they contribute practically nothing to the story
and could so easily have been omitted.
On the plus side, there is a superb central performance from
Richard Bohringer, who is at his best in the kind of taciturn, thick-skinned role that the
film offers him - a modern variation on the classic film noir hero.
In a part that calls to mind the actor's role in
Jean-Jacques Beineix's
Diva (1981),
Bohringer alone rises above the overall mediocrity of the production - his
co-stars Marie Trintignant (one of her last films before her
untimely death in 2003) and Daniel Duval fail to have much of an impact
and deserve far better. The film's location, present day Marseille,
is well-chosen and contributes a great deal to the claustrophobic mood of the piece -
it is hard to believe it is the same location as the one featuring in Robert Guédiguian's films
(
Marius et Jeannette (1997), etc.).
© James Travers 2004
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Film Synopsis
Present day Marselles. On the day of his release from jail, Manu is shot down after
a nocturnal safe-cracking job. His death is mourned not only by his girlfriend,
Lole, but also his two long-standing male friends, Ugo and Fabio. Ugo avenges the
death of his friend by killing Zucca, a gangster boss, before being shot dead himself
by armed police. This leaves Fabio. Whilst investigating the murders, he recalls
the wild late adolescence he shared with Ugo and Manu. All three were in love with
Lole and passed their time by perpetrating petty crimes. Whereas Ugo and Manu went
on to pursue a career in crime, Fabio decided to become a law enforcer. The death
of his friends provides Fabio with a reason for taking on some powerful enemies -
the mafia and right-wing extremists - with predictable consequences…
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.