Barracuda

First the positive aspects to start with: excellent acting of the actors; interesting precipice between atmosphere and music in the background; really interesting story BUT: This film is just made boring and it can not entertain a wide range of people. And that should be the main character of a movie.

This impressive debut feature from Philippe Haim is a stylish realisation of one of our worst nightmares, that of being trapped and at the mercy of a lunatic.

Just as Kathy Bates was inspired casting as Annie Wilkes in Rob Reiner's similarly themed 'Misery' so Haim has the great good fortune to have secured the services of veteran Jean Rochefort as Monsieur Clément. The character is a monster to be sure but as one would expect from this superlative artiste he has succeeded in arousing our sympathy. We do not know the source of his particular brand of insanity and are left to conjecture whether it be caused by protracted solitude, excessive loneliness or the desperate need for love. Some have detected a hint of homoeroticism but that of course is down to the individual viewer.

Guillaume Canet plays the hapless victim and one cannot fail to sympathise with the physical pain, mental torture and all-round debasement that he is obliged to endure.

The director's own score together with excellent art/production design, an all pervading sense of claustrophobia, touches of black humour and the dynamic between the two principles combine to make this piece eminently watchable.

This is a film that begins so quietly one might be tempted to discard it. But, hang on for a few more minutes and you'll be rewarded by an intriguing and exciting story of a young man caught up in the fantasies of a psychopath, an elderly man who lives alone with a plastic replica of his deceased wife. It's a well-acted piece that holds you in its grip right to the end. It's almost a duologue with Luc (Gillaume Canet) and Clement (JEAN Rochefort) playing a series of "cat and mouse" scenes. All the other players have bit parts. Chained first to a bathroom washbasin and then to a steel post in his "own" room, Luc is at the mercy of fiendish Clement, a strange man with a troubled mind and one who likes to dance like Fred Astaire. Luc of course is constantly struggling to escape and he uses every ruse under the sun including a psychological approach. The director in quite a few scenes uses an interesting technique which is new to me. First we see the outcome of a situation played as Luc imagines it could be and then the script cuts to the real situation which is often frustrating and hopeless with no possible solution. Be warned some of the scenes are violent. The old man is pretty active with a fire extinguisher as a lethal weapon and equally at ease with a hyperdermic. Whether you believe the story or not, I can tell you it seems quite possible as one gets caught up in the action. If there's a message in the film, it's this: Never accept dinner appointments from strangers!

I caught the beginning of this movie late one night while flicking channels and found myself unable to stop watching… the story revolves around a young man who moves in to an apartment with his pregnant girlfriend. Across the hall from him lives an old man who invites him over for dinner, however the young man declines several times before finally conceding. He joins the old man for dinner, and quickly discovers that the old man is insane (he sits a mannequin at the dinner table, telling the young man that it's his wife). When he tries to leave however, the old man knocks him unconscious and locks him in a secret compartment. The rest of the film details the efforts of the young man to keep his sanity and escape, and the ever-increasing cruelty of the old man.

Overall, I really enjoyed the film. The level of cruelty served out by the lonely old man is bone-chilling, but even so you can't help but feel a little sorry for the old man as all he really wants is some company.

**** out of *****

In another review of this film the writer claimed the film was boring, where as upon seeing the film I was very impressed that the film sustained my interest for the full length, despite the fact that is was all set in the one apartment.

It was very well acted and made, and the the story and ideas were incredible.

Abandon any ideals that this film is boring, as it is one of the most interesting films I have ever seen.

(and that includes 'Psycho')