If you liked those old movies from the 1970's - movies with an anti-hero, someone who's bad, but also a very well-drawn and interesting character, someone often involved in crime; films that were often as much characters studies of someone lost in a dark place as they were driven by any developed plot - you should love this. To me this French film far exceeds most of those types of things - works often associated Scorsese, De Niro, Frankenheimer or Pacino. It is intense, in spots rather violent, but on the whole, mesmerizing. Romain Duris plays Thomas Seyr - a man who does very bad things, but feels and dreams the life of a concert pianist. Whether he's seeking to escape to a new future or into the few warm spots of his past (or both) Thomas desperately wants to play the piano. But day-in, day-out he's often distracted by the dark, criminal world that surrounds him. Duris is superb in this role - coiled up tighter than a feral cat about to pounce, better than a lot of those men who made wildly successful careers playing similar parts decades ago. He's a tragic, wounded, violent, fascinating figure. And it's not just the acting of Duris that makes this film stand out. The production values and techniques involved in it are first-rate. It's a very good film.
And since I'm praising a (sort of) crime drama set in France I'll also take a second to briefly recommend another one - The Good Thief, directed by Neil Jordan and starring Nick Nolte. Not that many people saw it when it came out a couple of years ago, and that's a shame. It's very entertaining and well worth the price of a rental. Posted by armand at December 29, 2005 11:39 AM | TrackBack | Posted to Movies