Les 7 jours du talion

This movie is a very intense psychological thriller filmed in very grey and depressive images and words that create a perfect atmosphere for this doom slow paced movie. The movie seems to be a simple vengeance story, but it goes far beyond this. Let me warn you first: There are not many torture scenes in this movie, so if you expect some gore stuff here, you may not be satisfied at all in the end. The title and trailer could be somehow misleading.

The film has in fact a very philosophical touch and questions about the sense of life and death as well as vengeance or forgiveness. The movie shows how difficult such topics are and has almost some documentary influences as it shows the reactions of the society, the police, the victim's families. But there are also metaphoric elements in this movie like the scenes with the dead deer body that represents the dead body of the raped and killed daughter that lead us slowly towards a melancholic end that many find unsatisfying but which fits perfectly to the whole atmosphere and intention of the movie. The story is surprisingly realistic. All those points I really like about this great Quebecker movie.

What I rather dislike is that there is something like a highlight missing. When the father has kidnapped the murderer of his daughter and the police is looking for him, you expect that the tension and action raises, that each character's profoundness may be developed and that there are some disturbing twists but nothing happens at all. The movie concentrates on the profoundness of the main character but I think that the characters of the murderer, the police officer or the kidnapper's wife could have been more developed. The movie also concentrates too much on the logical follow-up of the story and the tension goes really down at some point in the movie as there are no real surprises or turning points like in the heavier and more disturbing shocker "5150 on Elm Street", a movie based on the novel by the same author as this one. This movie's strength is its depressive atmosphere and the main actor's brilliant acting but it has too much of a one man show.

If you are looking for an alternative depressive psycho thriller with some philosophical elements, I highly recommend this movie for you. But if you are looking for a bloody shocker with a twisted ending, just forget about it.

Just finished seeing Les 7 jours du talion and I have to admit that words cannot begin to describe how that movie will affect you. The acting is superb, it is very much a "huis-clos" as we call it in French, a duel of actors in an enclosed space where no one else can see them.

I'm not a fan of torture porn, I've never seen the Saw and Hostel movies as they aren't my cup of tea personally. Warning here that the violence, though rare, is very graphic and realistic. But the characters are very convincing, especially in what they DON'T say aloud. And I agree with the choice not to add a soundtrack to that movie, it would detract from the tension in it.

I know that I normally buy a DVD of a really outstanding movie, but I'll pass on this one, though it is outstanding. It's just that the dark side of human nature does not always bear repeat contemplation.

Just like in the recent Australian revenge thriller The Horseman, we have another Father who's snapped and is now taking matters into his own hands on account of his little girl's demise. Where that film brought a more in your face, action oriented style, 7 Days bring you a more heady approach that focuses on despair, grief and self-conflict. But that's not to say this one, on any level, is less brutal.

As I hinted at, 7 Days is a story of a Father's vengeance for his 8 year old daughter that was raped and murdered. He masterminds a plan to get the perpetrator alone for 7 Days so he can quell his own flooding emotions. It's a simple story that people across the board can relate to, but only a select few would ever try to tackle; and it shows, as this is no joy-ride for the Father, and his actions against his daughter's killer are eating him up inside.

7 Days is an engrossing film; with it's bleak and unforgiving style, it captured me right from the get go, and didn't let loose until the final scene. And at it's core were the performances by the actors involved, who all did stand-out jobs. But I have to really commend the man who played the murderer, Martin Dubreuil. He did an amazing job as a man going through a smörgåsbord of pain and mental battles. One scene in particular, where himself and our lead (Claude Legault) had a face to face; it literally had my breath at a stand-still.

I was not expecting to enjoy this film as much I did. I'm super hit or miss with any film that has torture in it; as I think most people are. I feel like I've seen every single one as well; from the mainstream Hostels to the cheap and ugly, Scrapbook, to the overly ridiculous and vile, The Butcher. And as a whole, the sub-genre is pretty weak. But when torture is used as a secondary outfit in a movie, instead of the go to ploy, then I feel, there's hope for the sub-genre. This movie first and foremost delivers a story that thrusts you into the Father's shoes, and urges you to relate through either simple but affective symbolism, affective and violent outbursts, or scenes of pain-staking solitude. And also adding in a sub-plot with a hardened but sensitive detective that's trying to stop our protagonist, the film only intensifies.

7 Days is a graphic, intimate and emotional film that tells the story of questionable actions from the side you're supposed to be caring for. As the man descends deeper into vengeance he'll quickly reach a fine line that may be impossible to turn back from. You take this journey with him, not knowing which way he'll go.

I really liked this movie and am sad to say that I do not want to watch it again. The subject matter is very disturbing and not something you really want to go through more than once. The movie was very well done and realistic. While watching it you will go through a whole case of emotions, from anger, distraught, disgust to the feeling of love a father has for his daughter.

Amazingly acted and directed, this movie was done in a perfect, raw, way to help you feel what the father is going through.

I really can't understand how some reviewers did not see a point in this movie. I would spell it out for them, but do not want to spoil the experience for anyone reading this review. There is a point to this movie and it's really simple.

I love the fact that this movie did not have the usual twists and surprises that have become so prevalent with Hollywood thrillers. Seems like a lot of plots now a days rely too heavily on the surprise twist and "I did not see that coming" response from the movie goer rather than emotion.

This movie hits you like a tonne of bricks and keeps you on the edge until the very end.

WELL DONE !!!

When police arrest a man for the rape and murder of Dr. Bruno Hamel's 8-year old daughter, the distraught father (a strong performance from Claude Legault) seeks revenge, kidnapping the suspect and subjecting him to a week of unimaginable suffering while the police desperately attempt to track them down.

Revenge is sweet, as the saying goes, but 7 Days challenges this notion: after inflicting untold pain and suffering on his victim, Bruno doesn't feel any better—he is just as empty inside, his grief no less severe than before, his anger unabated. The film questions whether, despite our understandable wish to severely punish the human garbage who commit such evil crimes, revenge might not be the wisest route to take.

Superb performances, tight direction from Daniel Grou, and some truly disturbing imagery make this film hard to ignore, but it is its highly debatable central theme—to torture or not to torture— that makes 7 Days a more powerful viewing experience than many of the 'torture' films that we've had to endure post-Saw.