Le serpent

'Le Serpent' certainly starts well: a smart, stylish thriller with an intriguing set up and a skillful use of changes of pace. The cast are all excellent; and the cinematography captures a picture of modern, commercial Paris, not exactly run down but cold and devoid of charm. But for all its promise, it can't escape its generic (and essentially uninteresting) premise: that of one man pitted against an all-powerful psychopath, who cares about nothing except ruining the hero (but who eventually, to his own cost, prefers talking about his crimes to finishing them off). There are some similarities to 'Tell No One', another classy but ultimately implausible story.

"Le Serpent" refers to the snake tattooed across the back of bad guy Joseph Plender (Clovis Cornillac), a seriously mixed-up individual who traces all his problems to a childhood prank that went horribly wrong. The man he holds responsible is Vincent Mandel, a fashion photographer played by Yvan Attal. The title may also be a reference to the serpent in the Garden of Eden, though no-one could describe Vincent's life as paradise, even before the arrival of Plender. He's in the middle of a messy divorce, and the last thing he needs is a ghost from his past that could prejudice his chances of getting custody of his children.

Yvan Attal is an appealing choice for the role of Vincent. He has the range to be both vulnerable in the early scenes, and tough and resourceful as the story develops. Clovis Cornillac, as Vincent's nemesis, gives a performance that is (necessarily) more contained, but is nevertheless very effective. His most interesting scene comes when Vincent's beautiful wife (Minna Haapkyla) offers herself to him and his response is to walk off in disgust and scrub himself from head to foot.

Though the film has the ability to surprise in scenes such as this, there's no escaping the fact that this is a conventional Hollywood psychological thriller in French dressing. Plender's progression from slimy blackmailer to serial-murdering super-villain is all part of the formula for such things, as is the flight from the police, the mano-a-mano confrontation (one of them does remember to bring a gun but it's quickly lost), the false ending...

The solid performances (including comedian Pierre Richard, cast against type as a fellow victim of Plender) and some stylish direction by Eric Barbier help to compensate for the fairly predictable story. Those looking for more intelligence, originality and depth in their recent French psycho-thrillers should turn to "Caché", "Feux rouges", "Harry, un ami qui vous veut du bien" and "Ne le dis à personne", to name just four examples. Each of those films will reward repeated viewings. "Le Serpent", I fear, will not.

I had read a brief review of this film and it was intriguing enough to get me to the cinema. There were only 3 of us in there and I felt people are missing out by missing this film. It was superbly acted. Maybe not enough people go to see subtitled films, hopefully that won't put people off this. There's parts they're not essential as the acting and shots are good enough to carry you through. I can see a Hollywood remake on the horizon which in a way is a big shame, but it would make a fantastic box office smash. Glad it was shown at my cinema on its own merits though. It's a great thriller and even if you feel there's no surprises (each to their own) it doesn't detract from a good tale well told. The only thing with the subtitles was a couple of spelling mistakes, one particularly made a totally different meaning.... apparently one character served in the 'Golf' War!

Mainly shot in "La Defense" area of the French capital city, which looks like US cities with its high towers, this movie has been written to be adapted in Hollywood. However, it is not a fake adaptation in French. Barbier did well as he focuses on the deeper feelings of the main 2 characters (may be a more independent movies' style)while opposing them in a face to face combat (just as any good blockbuster). It is a clever movie, very close to psycho-thrillers from Hollywood, starring Michael Douglas or Harisson ford, where the family of the looser-hero is threatened, his life beginning to become in jeopardy thanks to a cold manipulator who is his best nemesis. It is definitely not the same quality as Cape Fear, but contains some of its main elements. Actors Yvan Attal and Pierre Richard fit well the Douglas'suit of this movie, and Cornillac is a quite good Jeroen Krabbe French copy. Do not forget the other actors who perfectly play the "character" type whose purpose is to fulfill their mission, no more no less. Do not forget the pop corn!!

Let's face it. This script was made for Hollywood and no doubt, the producers want to sell it to them for a remake.

This doesn't mean it's a bad movie. It's a "classic" thriller, with the classic Cape Fear ingredients, but it certainly is by no means clear there it leads you. Clovis Corvillac is the splendid bad guy here and not a square character. Very dangerous, but also with trustworthy weak points.

There are some somewhat stupid action scenes to be found, but apart from that, this is about real people. OK, this couldn't happen in real life, but that doesn't matter. As I said, it's a classic thriller.