Persecution

Persécution

Germany, France

2009

100 Min

Color

2.35:1

French

Currently 2.9/5 Stars.
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SCR Patrice Chéreau, Anne-Louise Trividic

CAST Romain Duris, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Gilles Cohen, Alex Descas, Michel Duchaussoy, Hiam Abbass, Tsilla Chelton, Mika Tard, Yannick Soulier, Fabio Zenoni

SOUND Guillaume Sciama

Venice (Competition), London (French Revolutions), São Paulo

Synopsis

Daniel (Romain Duris) is a very angry man – almost a French cousin to Johnny, the protagonist of Mike Leigh’s Naked. Falling out of the circle of conventional French society, he has become a loner working on a series of hand-to-mouth construction jobs and living at his work sites. Still he finds the time for occasional meetings with his girlfriend (Charlotte Gainsbourg), whose well-paid job often keeps her away, and for get-togethers with his social circle, usually spending evenings inveighing against his friends and spilling their confidences. But Daniel’s life is complicated by the arrival of a mysterious, seemingly down-and-out man (Jean-Hugues Anglade) who keeps invading Daniel’s space, sometimes committing damage, sometimes confessing undying love. Romain Duris, who first gave full rein to his dark side in The Beat That My Heart Skipped, stays in sombre mode in Patrice Chéreau’s film – in mood and theme, something of a companion piece to the director’s London-set Intimacy. Hitting a nerve of metropolitan unease, this is an intense and troubling film. Eric Neveux’s edgy, guitar-laden score and claustrophobic photography by Yves Cape (see White Material and Hadewijch ) make this one of Chéreau’s most compelling yet. —London Film Festival

Director

Patrice Chéreau

Primarily known as a stage director in his native France, Patrice Chéreau has also made quite a name for himself in the realm of cinema with such acclaimed features as Queen Margot (1994) and Intimacy (2001). The Lezigne native crossed from stage to screen with the 1975 thriller Flesh and the Orchid, and the auspicious debut earned its up-and-coming director two César nominations. In 1984, Chéreau shared a Best Writing César with Hervé Guibert for his feature The Wounded Man, and in 1994, Chéreau scored his biggest hit to date with the bloody historical drama Queen Margot. Adapted from Alexandre Dumas’ novel, Queen Margot was nominated for Best Costume Design at the 1995 Academy Awards in addition to taking home top prizes at the Cannes Film Festival and the César Awards. Following a pair of successful television endeavors, Chéreau returned to the screen to great success with the emotional drama Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train (1998). An introspective tale of an artist’s final… read more

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Daniel S.

5Apr11

Uninteresting characters doing uninteresting things and telling uninteresting things. No problem for me because we all know that, thanks to the mise-en-scene, the musical score or beautiful landscapes, these first fruits may well become the pillars of a masterpiece. Just think of any Jean-Luc Godard movie. ( ... ) . No, it's a joke !. A DVD zone I Should Have Seen a Giallo instead.

Magda

5Jan11

The actors were really good, but yet I somehow missed the whole point of the story.

Guillaume

3Aug10

See other comment below. The amazing Yves Cape doesn't seem to understand what Chéreau whants and his cinematography on the streets of Paris at night looks exactly like a Canon commercial with the blurry lights in the background. Also, the music is over the top and would have needed much more simplicity. A least, a great story has been told on screen.

Guillaume

3Aug10

Love is hard and trying to connect and live with someone is something really intense. The director and his actors brings that complexity to the screen. Set in metro, the streets and featuring "middle class" people, the suffering is everywhere and Chéreau is not affraid of showing real life in the style of Pialat. It's sad to see a good film that could have been a great one because of his lack of mise en scene.