Déjà mort

This is a gem of a "noir" movie showing various character in a self-destructive descent into hell. This is not really a portrayal of the porn business, but much more. A young guy is fascinated by two poseurs taking snapshots and agrees to introduce to them a girl, Zoé, he watches from afar. The two rich brats accept him as Zoé's "chaperon", but they soon turn her to the porn business. This could be sub-Tarantino territory, but Dahan actually fleshes out his characters, introduces real humanity and, if we know this will all end in tragedy, the "how" remains fascinating. This is great, sincere stuff.

Too bad, that not many people have seen this movie. It just happened that I lived in Paris when the movie came out - and it was the right movie at the right time - exactly reflecting certain feelings I had. It's hard to explain a certain mood to others, for me this movie was just perfect ... if you get the chance to watch - take it ... maybe you will like it as much as I did.

Although not perfect, this movie is indeed a noir. The ambiance is here, as well as good acting and direction (most of them now have achieved notoriety). Of course Déja Mort is kind of immature in essence, but what do you expect teenagers, rich & wannabees, having parties, sex drugs and alcohol to act like ? Noir is about flawed characters making mistakes. It's a noir by a young writer/director aimed at a young audience, and as that, it is quite good.

And PLEASE don't compare it to Requiem for a Dream, dummy. I know Dahan is not Aronofsky, but unless you think the 1933 King Kong is a remake of Peter Jackson's, check out the release dates.

Cocaine, guns, porn flicks, and the french riviera. A bunch of young people on their way to hell, a tragedy with the human scope of Shakespeare, and without the wordly moral common sense he was bound to. A great film encompassed by the unstoppable desire of the characters, where it seems everything is going out of control. The score by Bruno Coulais underlines it, like a regretful and ambiguous complaint, suggesting the tragic beauty of young people being consumed.

One of the boldest, best french films of the last years.

This is not for all audiences and what I want to emphasize on is Carlo Brandt's character, one of his most impressive ever. This dude has the perfect face of the perfect nasty, cruel, f...up motherf.... and he is a brilliant actor. Watch out for him in LA SIRENE ROUGE, FRANCK SPADONE,and many other films too. A real heavy in the French movie industry. A topic about porn underground industry, disturbing, violent, hopeless scheme, not Olivier Dahan's best but worth the view anyway. Good young actors whose careers were here launched. But, again, look out for Carlo Brandt....