Mon crime

A character piece from well-known and much loved French cast, with witty scripting and well crafted twists.

Charmingly shot and well edited, the costumes and make-up reflect the period. The individual players are well matched and clearly defined, very much within the scope of French culture. One aspect that this film scores highly on is that it is not too long - unlike many Hollywood films which are overpadded with repetitious effects.

Cinema is a medium that targets particular audiences and this film hits the bull's eye. If you instantly forget 90% of a particular genre, then don't watch it. If you don't watch it, don't comment...

I've always preferred Francois Ozon when he's in a playful mood and he's certainly in a playful mood here revamping a creaky old play by George Berr and Louis Verneuil that's already been filmed twice before and giving it a bright new glow, dispensing with realism from the start. "Mon Crime" is definitely an old-fashioned comedy-thriller with nary a thrill to be found, silly enough to keep a soppy grin on our faces for most of its running time.

The daft plot has young actress Nadia Tereszkiewicz accused of murdering an over-sexed producer only to be defended in court, in something of a parody of "Roxie Hart", by her roommate and best friend Rebecca Marder and that's just the half of it. It's totally daft and thoroughly delightful with a superb performance from Fabrice Luchini as the investigating judge and if that's not enough there's always Isabelle Huppert as a wildly over-the-top actress insisting on her day in court. Minor Ozon but even minor Ozon can be a real treat.

It is the movie which looks as a theatrical play and finely frame we will see it will become that. There is a lot of humor and beautiful costumes related to that time when it happens and there's no doubt that you will enjoy in it. Everything is stunning and shiny, but culmination arises in the moment when comes Isabelle Huppert in the role of poor silent actress at the end of her career. With her appearance she steals all your attention. Anyway, everyone in it is charming and in a kind of seductive approach and by that it will fill your attention. The creator, François Ozon, of it made adaptation of a Parisian play from 1934 by Georges Berr and Louis Verneuil and he did it very well!!!

Directed by Francois Ozon, it makes you look forward to seeing the film. Does it work? Yes, mostly. The cast is fantastic, down to the smallest part.

A young actress is being promised a part in a play, but she has to indulge the producer's wishes to be his lover. He tries to make advances, but she runs and escapes the mess.

The next day the police arrives at the apartment of the actress, where she is living with her friend, who's a lawyer, and have practiced for one year. The producer havr been killed.

To advance her career the two girls makes a plan, where she confess to his murder, counting on being acquitted, and then she'll have a name and be successful.

But then something unexpected happens, the real murder contacts the girls. She's an actor, out of luck getting parts in films, it's the era of films with sound, it's 1935. She was big in the silent film years, not now. She's demanding 300.000 Francs to keep quiet.

Now, the rest you must see for your self. It's a quite entertaining and fun film. It's not amongst the best, and it wouldn't even have been as good as it is, if Isabelle Huppert, one of the very finest actors in the world, wasn't playing thr real murderess. In fact all the actors do a fine job. Plus, it's always a pleasure to see Andre Dusollier.

Set in Paris in the 1930s, Madeleine Verdier (Nadia Tereszkiewicz), is a talentless and bankrupt young actress. With a wide assortment of debt collectors lining up at her door, struggling actress Verdier is with her back to the wall. As a result, as if the cruel hardships of poverty weren't enough, the penniless artist now stands accused of murdering one of the city's most famous residents. Madeleine is accused of murdering a powerful and lascivious French producer named Montferrand. A media trial takes place in which she is defended by her roommate, a young lawyer, Pauline Mauléon (Rebecca Marder), without a job. Fame still waits but the truth is about to be discovered. After being acquitted, she begins her new life of fame and success, until the truth comes out.

French director Ozon adapts a forgotten Parisian play from 1934 for this comedy of entanglements, in the purest 'screwball comedy' style of Hollywood's golden age. Ozon starts from the murder of a powerful, unscrupulous producer at the hands of a young actress to create a sarcastic, vindictive and theatrical comedy full of script twists. Interpretations are passable, such as Nadia Tereszkiewicz as Madeleine Verdier, a young actress who's accused of murdering a famous producer, she's a compulsive liar who admits to a killing she didn't commit so her friend, a failed lawyer, finely played by Rebecca Mader, can clear her name and build a reputation for herself. These two young actresses are well accompanied by veteran actors , such as: Fabrice Luchini, Dany Boon, André Dussollier and Isabelle Huppert whose role was based on famous theater actress Sarah Bernhardt. The film pays tribute to Billy Wilder and his first movie: 'Mauvaise graine (Bad seed 1934)' when the two protagonists go to the cinema and Medeleine Verdier is mentioned in the news bulletin, before the projection of a movie, alongside real murderesses - the Papin sisters and Violette Nozière whose character was performed by Isabelle Huppert herself in the classic film 'Violette Noziere' directed by Claude Chabrol. According to director Ozon himself, this 'Mon crime' (2023) is the third part of a trilogy about the condition of women initiated by the film: '8 women' followed by 'Potiche', all of them are usually characterized by sharp satirical wit and a freewheeling view on female sexuality. This 'Mon crime'(2023) is actually a loose rendition of the 1934 play "Mon crime", by Georges Berr and Louis Verneuil, which has already been adapted twice by Hollywood: 'Cross My Heart' (1946) by John Berry with Betty Hutton, Sonny Tufts, Ruth Donnelly, Rhys Williams and 'True confession' (1937) by Wesley Ruggles with Carole Lombard, Fred MacMurray, John Barrymore, Una Merkel, Porter Hall.

The film was professionally directed by Francois Ozon, but turned out to be a bit slow and implausible at times, not definitively engaging the viewer. Ozon is considered to be one of the best French filmmakers. His favorite director is Rainer Werner Fassbinder, that's why he made 'Peter Von Kant'. Ozon considers filmmaking a "parallel world", in which he flees the boring everyday life. Ozon calls actress Romola Garai his muse. Member of the 'Official Competition' jury at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival in 2012 and he has won several prizes. Ozon is a prolific writer and director who has made all kinds of genres with penchant for drama and comedy, such as: ¨By the Grace of God' , 'Été 85', 'Le Refuge', 'Peter Von Kant', '5x2' , 'Angel', 'Dans la maison', 'Swimming pool' , 'Le temps qui reste', 'Criminal lovers', 'Everything Went Fine', 'Sitcom', among others.