Barracuda

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.

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.

I am sad to have to comment this French movie, but : Guillaume Canet is bad as actor and bad as director, everyone knows that here in France. Jean Rochefort is a well-known good actor: why did he accept to act in this crap??? Only for money i suppose. Director Philippe Haim heavily underlines every action with a heavy music of composer Philippe Haim. Splash splash splash... Poor screenplay (the idea is not bad, but his treatment is boring), poor, even ridiculous French dialogs, heavy and pompous staging, please avoid this very bad movie. This is not French cinema, just a bad taste farcical "grand-guignol" waste of time and energy.

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 *****

This is a rather creepy black comedy about madness and deceit. After seeing this film you won't be so trusting. It makes me think of that saying '"come into my parlour" said the spider to the fly.'

The story begins in an apartment occupied by an eccentric old man named Clement. On nearly every wall of the apartment are portraits of Fred Astaire. It soon becomes clear that Clement is a mentally unbalanced recluse living in a fantasy world.

Luc is a young cartoonist who has just moved into an apartment across the hallway. With grand plans to sail around the world and start a family, Luc's life is normal and happy until he makes a fatal mistake. He runs into his elderly neighbour and agrees to meet his "wife".

"Barracuda" follows Luc's plight as he becomes the unwilling "son" of Clement. The film is quite engrossing as we see how Luc tries to escape from his tap-dancing captor. We see what goes on in Clement's mind as he has conversations with Fred Astaire, and get some insight of his lonely, empty life.

"Barracuda" has some chilling moments. It might seem far-fetched, but it's entertaining nevertheless. Although if you watched it over and over again you can imagine the story losing its suspense.

One of the things I like best about the film is the dance music. It's quite catchy. Beware of your neighbours.