Monsieur Hire

Although this film that is a remake of the Julien Duvivier's "Panique" (released in 1945) only lasts about one hour and twenty minutes, there is so much to say about it. Among the qualities that this film shows, the most important is its main actor. Indeed, Michel Blanc performs brilliantly this weird character hated by everyone that is Monsieur Hire. Moreover, we can notice that the film doesn't only focus on the plot, it also focuses on the character of Monsieur Hire himself. Of course, this man is unpleasant towards his neighbours, but Patrice Leconte attempts to make us touching this man. Among the other qualities, let's quote: Sandrine Bonnaire's performance which is smooth but cruel, the good use of Brahms' music, the quality of the photography and the film set (especially Hire's flat). As a conclusion, a great film from a director who is, however, more famous for his comic films such as "Les Bronzés", "Viens chez moi, j'habite chez une copine".

This movie is without a doubt, one of the best and most depressing movies that I've seen in a long time. With minimal expense a masterpiece was made in this film. The actors embodied both sensuality and callousness within the confines of a single scene. Not sinking to a trashy voyeur level, this movie proves that nudity is not necessary for sexuality, but at the same time displays one of life's little known truths. We all need to love and be loved.

Having read some of the negative reviews regarding this film, I think the first thing to make clear here is that there is no point in watching this film if your idea of a perfect movie is Jurassic Park or The Da Vinci Code.

This is a film that focuses not on the story itself, but more on the characters and the emotions that reside within them. The above mentioned films take an idea for a story (a dinosaur filled wildlife park or a mysterious religious secret) and then devise a plot which is by far and away beyond what would ever happen in the real world.

In contrast, Monsieur Hire takes a story in which very little happens: A man is suspected of a murder. The man is a reclusive misfit, devoid of charm or humour, but he harbours a love for a woman he has never even met: a woman he knows only through seeing her from his apartment window. Unlike the aforementioned films, the plot, from beginning to end, can be summarised within just a few sentences. But it is what is behind the plot which makes this movie incredible. It is the notion of love which drives the film.

The acting and directing show passion that is more intense and sexual than anything I have seen, yet it does so without even a hint of what you would expect from a film described as "intense" and "sexual". The intensity of the love shown by the protagonist is beyond anything that one would have seen before, and yet it is far from the purity that one would normally associate with such an emotion. Indeed, it is dark and tense, and due to the questionable character of its object, one is left in turmoil as to whether this love is to be admired, pitied or instead viewed as just desserts for a man of his nature.

Those who have scored this low on the basis that the characters do not conduct themselves in a "believable way" confound me. The whole point of a film is that it takes you away from the everyday scenario. Most movies show you fairly ordinary people involved in extraordinary stories. This one shows you extraordinary characters involved in a story which (in itself) is fairly ordinary. To score this low based on its plot is to criticise Opera for its storyline. The whole point of the opera is its music, and the whole point of this film is its incredible portrayal of emotion. Brilliantly acted, brilliantly directed, and this will haunt you for some time.

If you need your films to be Hollywood factory typecasts then don't watch this. You won't enjoy it. Go and rent out The Expendibles, and leave Monsieur Hire to those who appreciate art when they see it. I'm sorry if that sounds pretentious. I enjoy a cheesy Hollywood flick as much as the next person, but it's sad that there are people who can't see beyond Stephen Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Bruce Willis.

'Monsieur Hire' is a film where you can find elements of horror, mystery, romance and comedy blending with each other and the result is a really endearing piece of work.

This is a film that is majorly about the deceptiveness of appearances. 'Monsieur Hire explores the distinctions between what appears to be the truth and what is the actual truth, both in terms of facts and in terms of the nature of characters. Patrice Leconte uses the the screenplay and his camera to play around with the viewers with certain misleading shots and by deliberately withholding information. Certain ideas get set up in the minds of the viewer, but these ideas get undercut and turned on their heads with the unearthing of the actual truths towards the later parts of the film.

Patrice Leconte's style of artistically using the lighting and his way of establishing thematic and character conflicts by the using of colour(blue and red) reminded me of Kieślowski. 'Monsieur Hire' foreshadows films like 'The Double Life of Veronique' and 'Three Colours trilogy'. It also has a Hitchcock-like vibe to it in the way the film keeps the viewer guessing and on the edge of the seat with the way the mystery elements are handled. The camera movements are fluid, especially the sideways movement which at times contradict the movement of the characters in the scene. The beautiful operatic score helps Leconte to establish the theatrically poetic vibe that he is going for.

'Monsieur Hire' is driven forward by a dynamic, passionate and tender performance by Michel Blanc. He has to play a character who stays completely detached from the rest of the world, is very unsociable and not at all gregarious. Maybe similarities can be drawn between the characters of Hire and Gerd Wiesler from 'The Lives of Others'. Blanc forces the viewer to completely sympathise with him and root for him.

In a nutshell, 'Monsieur Hire' is a poetic, touching and visually polished piece of work that I can't help but recommend.

There's a Term Paper waiting to be written on why it is that Georges Simenon's novels are only so-so when read but gain an extra dimension when cinematicised, if I may coin a phrase. This is the second time around for this one, Julien Duvivier did a first-rate job back in 1947/8, shooting in black and white with the great Michel Simon and a passable Viviane Romance, under the title 'Panique'. Patrice Leconte is no slouch either and he has moved on light years from 'Les Bronzes' and turned out a string of intriguing, offbeat, enchanting and excellent films, indeed, his track-record is the equal of any of the great post-war French film makers (and totally eclipses, it should go without saying the pretentious pairing of Godard and Truffaut)and with illustrious names like Jean-Pierre Melville, Alain Cornau, Claude Sautet, Bertrand Tavernier, Jean-Paul Rappeneau, and newer kids on the block in the shape of Ann Fontaine, Daniele Thompson, Agnes Jouai, Zabou, etc, that is saying something. Here he turns in a very tasty offbeat entry and finds in Michel Blanc the perfect leading man to convey at one and the same time a sense of isolation and inner strength. This is a film in which most, if not all the characters have an agenda. The lazy cop just wants to nail the sad son of a bitch who he considers perfect patsy material just because he chooses not to socialize with his neighbors. This is now a crime? Alice, the subject of Hire's open voyeurism is anxious to keep suspicion from falling where it should, her own boyfriend, but such is the quality of Sandrine Bonnaire's acting (she turns in an equally offbeat and ambiguous performance in Leconte's latest film, 'Confidences trop Intimes', currently on release)that we can't be sure that she doesn't REALLY fancy Michel Blanc's essentially colorless Hire. Hire himself is not interested in diverting suspicion from himself, as he could so easily do, as protecting Alice, with whom he has fallen in love, from both the indifference of her boyfriend (which, natch, she can't see) and the repercussions should he (Hire) talk to the gendarmes. The only jarring note in fact is the aggravating Michal Nyman grating sounds that pass for music in his circle of pseuds. Pity I couldn't rewrite that to read Jarre-ing notes, had Leconte had the good taste to hire Maurice Jarre, or indeed, ANYONE bona fide musician. That cavil to one side this remains an absorbing film, not perhaps quite eclipsing 'Panique' but certainly fit to stand beside it. 8/10