Barracuda

Beware of neighbors!That's Rosemary's story,and that's the tenant's story,two great Polanski films.The camera tricks recall the Pole's style too.

"Barracuda" could have been filmed stage drama,since we do not go out of Rochefort's flat,but the director manages to give a cinematographic feel to it.Clement's character is not that much original however:he is akin to Norman Bates and Chabrol's hero in "les fantômes du chapelier"(1982).He has a fixation on Fred Astaire,and sometimes it's difficult to see the connection with what he does.When he captures and confines Luc,it works and it's suspenseful ,but superficially.That's what's it's not really Hitchcockian:in the Master's greatest movies,the Freudian mother rules (see "notorious","strangers on a train","psycho","the birds" "Marnie")What's lacking here is Clement's psychology:why does he do that?because he wants a son?because his solitude has become too unbearable?because,he's grown embittered ?because he's a frustrated gay?Except for his tastes for musicals,and his wife's death,we know absolutely nothing from Clement and it takes all Jean Rochefort's talent to make it credible.Guillaume Canet is very efficient too,and it was not an easy task to play opposite to such a veteran.

"Barracuda" is no masterpiece,but it's an interesting movie for suspense buffs ,and ,in spite of an unsatisfying ending, it'll give you a good share of scares.And if a new neighbor invites you in,think twice....

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 *****

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.