waldog2006

Modiano isn't for everybody, but if you're a fan like me this is a very enjoyable adaptation of one of his best novels. It remains faithful to the book while joining some of the dots; the book is a more elliptical first person narrative - here we are shown scenes that the narrator can know nothing about. There's also some business with a home movie projector that isn't in the book. This seems to be leading somewhere...or is it? The rabid anti-Algerian racism of the time is made more explicit. (I don't think the chilling line, "Plenty more room in the Seine..." referring to the mass drowning of Algerians by French police during the Paris Massacre of 1961, is in the book.) The actor who plays Jean/Patrick is a dead ringer for the young Modiano, capturing the innocence of the callow 20-year-old smitten with the far more experienced 27-year-old woman. Laura Smet is perfectly cast as "Marie". Non-Modiano fans might be a bit bemused by the absence of answers to so many questions, but if you love Modiano, you'll like this movie a lot. The French DVD has very good English subtitles.

There seems to be very little love for this movie. I'm one of those who's glad I went in knowing nothing about it. I'm neither a fan nor a detractor of Keanu Reeves. I've seen a few of his movies, and I've yet to see him give a bad performance. He's a subtle actor who doesn't ever grandstand. The other lead in this movie, Ana de Armas, is a revelation. But what kept me watching was the superb cinematography by Trevor Forrest. I was expecting to see a B-movie - instead, I saw a polished work of film art. So, it's odd to read that this is the re-edit disowned by the director. Since the end of the movie came as a real surprise to me, if the original cut is ever released, it won't have the same impact, unfortunately. It's easy to ridicule a film like this because it takes so many chances. It's not perfect, by any means, and the story of one character, at least, is rather unresolved. I've seen about four thousand films in the past ten or eleven years, so I'm quite picky because jaded by seeing the same old formulaic dross trotted out again and again. But I live in hope! This is not dross. This is good cinema. See it!

Watching this film on a poor-picture YouTube download is not ideal, admittedly, but it is also bogged down by a near-lethargic performance from Robert Culp, an ineffective location change from Mexico to New Orleans during Mardi Gras, leaden dialogue, funereal pacing, and the writing out of the major Thomas Gomez character from the original to be replaced by a fairly pointless performance by J Carrol Naish. Hard to believe this was directed by Don Siegel but it fails to rise above 1960s TV-movie status. Edmond O'Brien tries to bring some life to the proceedings - his corrupt Hoffa-like character is the most likable player. Norman Fell also shines, and Vera Miles tries her best with the little the script gives her to do. Noir fans should stick to the original, which is a classic. For Don Siegel completists only.