Directed by ex-cop Olivier Marchal as the concluding part of the trilogy he started with the critically acclaimed GANGSTERS and 36 QUAI DES ORFEVRES, this promised to be an inside look at the French police system. At least, that's all I knew when I entered the theater, lured in by the presence of the ever dependable Daniel Auteuil who may have compiled the most impressive body of work this side of Depardieu. Had I known beforehand just how relentlessly downbeat a cinematic experience this was going to be, it might have scared me off and that would have been very much my loss
Set in the coastal town of Marseilles, made to look extremely uninviting by the bleached out cinematography of Denis Rouden (a master of atmosphere, as evidenced by his sterling work on Lionel Delplanque's PROMENONS-NOUS DANS LES BOIS and Olivier Megaton's LA SIRENE ROUGE), the narrative incorporates two serial killers one past, one present and their influence on weary, dead-eyed cop Louis Schneider in charge (initially, at least) of both cases. Those expecting a Continental carbon copy of SE7EN however will be disappointed (additional comments prove as much) as this is basically background for Schneider's road to redemption. Careful viewer attention is mandatory to grasp matters that have occurred in the past sometimes only visually alluded to rather than spelled out in dialog and how they not so much influence as downright paralyze the character in the present. Suffice it to say that a furtive fling with co-worker Marie (a subtle portrayal by the hauntingly beautiful Catherine Marchal, hereto best known for extensive TV work) at the exact same time his wife crashed her car on the freeway, reducing her to vegetable and killing their only child, provided him with enough guilt for at least three lifetimes. While his reprehensible and morally corrupt superior Kovalski, played with hiss-able relish by Francis Renaud, works hard to take Schneider of the current murder case, an unwelcome blast from the past will put everything into perspective. After 25 years of incarceration, psychopath Charles Subra (craggy-faced Philippe Nahon in his best performance since Gaspar Noë's SEUL CONTRE TOUS) is about to be released on good behavior, upsetting troubled bartender Justine (gorgeous Olivia Bonamy, unforgettable in the out of left field horror hit ILS, who continues to impress more with each passing film) whose parents he slaughtered before her very eyes. Requiring Schneider's help in bringing the seemingly reformed murderer (who has "found God") to justice, she unwittingly helps pave the way for the demon-plagued policeman to make his peace with the past. Fundamentally decent, he eventually summons up the courage to do the right things, even as rampant corruption and random violence threaten to obliterate his valiant efforts.
With human kindness in such short supply, Marchal still allows for a single ray of hope to shine through at film's end. The fact that he accomplishes this through possibly the most hackneyed of narrative devices (the birth of a baby) and yet manages not to make it come off as such attests to his considerable talents as both filmmaker and story-teller as well as the profound emotional investment audiences have established by then with these emotionally battered characters. The exquisitely elegiac soundtrack by Bruno Coulais, who has clearly been going from strength to strength, beautifully complements the human and religious connotations the movie has built towards. Viewers who complained about the perfunctory exposition in both murder cases actually managed to miss the point the director has gone to such great lengths to make, that even the most adverse of situations can serve to bring out the best in people if this is within their nature, ofttimes unbeknown to even themselves. Though on the surface as noir as noir can be, this may ultimately prove an optimist opus at heart. Just brace yourself passing through. There is light at tunnel's end
Set in the coastal town of Marseilles, made to look extremely uninviting by the bleached out cinematography of Denis Rouden (a master of atmosphere, as evidenced by his sterling work on Lionel Delplanque's PROMENONS-NOUS DANS LES BOIS and Olivier Megaton's LA SIRENE ROUGE), the narrative incorporates two serial killers one past, one present and their influence on weary, dead-eyed cop Louis Schneider in charge (initially, at least) of both cases. Those expecting a Continental carbon copy of SE7EN however will be disappointed (additional comments prove as much) as this is basically background for Schneider's road to redemption. Careful viewer attention is mandatory to grasp matters that have occurred in the past sometimes only visually alluded to rather than spelled out in dialog and how they not so much influence as downright paralyze the character in the present. Suffice it to say that a furtive fling with co-worker Marie (a subtle portrayal by the hauntingly beautiful Catherine Marchal, hereto best known for extensive TV work) at the exact same time his wife crashed her car on the freeway, reducing her to vegetable and killing their only child, provided him with enough guilt for at least three lifetimes. While his reprehensible and morally corrupt superior Kovalski, played with hiss-able relish by Francis Renaud, works hard to take Schneider of the current murder case, an unwelcome blast from the past will put everything into perspective. After 25 years of incarceration, psychopath Charles Subra (craggy-faced Philippe Nahon in his best performance since Gaspar Noë's SEUL CONTRE TOUS) is about to be released on good behavior, upsetting troubled bartender Justine (gorgeous Olivia Bonamy, unforgettable in the out of left field horror hit ILS, who continues to impress more with each passing film) whose parents he slaughtered before her very eyes. Requiring Schneider's help in bringing the seemingly reformed murderer (who has "found God") to justice, she unwittingly helps pave the way for the demon-plagued policeman to make his peace with the past. Fundamentally decent, he eventually summons up the courage to do the right things, even as rampant corruption and random violence threaten to obliterate his valiant efforts.
With human kindness in such short supply, Marchal still allows for a single ray of hope to shine through at film's end. The fact that he accomplishes this through possibly the most hackneyed of narrative devices (the birth of a baby) and yet manages not to make it come off as such attests to his considerable talents as both filmmaker and story-teller as well as the profound emotional investment audiences have established by then with these emotionally battered characters. The exquisitely elegiac soundtrack by Bruno Coulais, who has clearly been going from strength to strength, beautifully complements the human and religious connotations the movie has built towards. Viewers who complained about the perfunctory exposition in both murder cases actually managed to miss the point the director has gone to such great lengths to make, that even the most adverse of situations can serve to bring out the best in people if this is within their nature, ofttimes unbeknown to even themselves. Though on the surface as noir as noir can be, this may ultimately prove an optimist opus at heart. Just brace yourself passing through. There is light at tunnel's end