A kidnapping thriller that has a dark noir side, as well as an interesting look at wealth, politics and morality. Throw in a complex family drama and a deeply flawed main character, and you have a familiar situation raised into a well above average film.
Visually sharp, suffused with an intense energy, even in the quiet scenes, the kidnapping of super wealthy industrialist Stanislas Graff opens a Pandora's box of questions about the man's lifestyle; his mistresses, his gambling debts, that leave his powerful 'friends' backing away from their desire to pay to get the man back, and makes his steadfast wife question the complacency with which she has accepted how things are.
The film makes the very dark point that the kidnappers, while awful and terrifying, in some ways are more honest, direct and even human than the upper-class .1% of the world that Stanislas is usually surrounded by, and is part of himself.
There are weaknesses. Some of it gets repetitive, and the ending is intentionally telegraphed (why?) and not very satisfying or thought provoking. Also, in attempting to deal with so many themes, ideas and story threads (cops, the business people, lawyers, the family, the kidnap victim, the kidnappers, etc there isn't much of a chance to really dig beneath the surface of all these very intriguing characters and ideas. Stanislas' daughters, for example, are pretty much ciphers.
But still a very worthwhile trip into unsettled, disturbing and questioning darkness.
Visually sharp, suffused with an intense energy, even in the quiet scenes, the kidnapping of super wealthy industrialist Stanislas Graff opens a Pandora's box of questions about the man's lifestyle; his mistresses, his gambling debts, that leave his powerful 'friends' backing away from their desire to pay to get the man back, and makes his steadfast wife question the complacency with which she has accepted how things are.
The film makes the very dark point that the kidnappers, while awful and terrifying, in some ways are more honest, direct and even human than the upper-class .1% of the world that Stanislas is usually surrounded by, and is part of himself.
There are weaknesses. Some of it gets repetitive, and the ending is intentionally telegraphed (why?) and not very satisfying or thought provoking. Also, in attempting to deal with so many themes, ideas and story threads (cops, the business people, lawyers, the family, the kidnap victim, the kidnappers, etc there isn't much of a chance to really dig beneath the surface of all these very intriguing characters and ideas. Stanislas' daughters, for example, are pretty much ciphers.
But still a very worthwhile trip into unsettled, disturbing and questioning darkness.