Il colore della menzogna

Claude Chabrol had directed about 50 movies since 1957. Sometimes, he's very good, but when he's bad, he's really boring. This movie is boring, despite the good efforts of asking the spectators who had killing the little girl and the writer. It's too long, too low key. But the biggest problem of the movie is Valeria Bruni Tedeschi. I never saw such a weak actress. She don't have any credibility in the role of the police inspector. She's inexpressive and had an horrible voice. She can't articulate and most of the time, we don't understand or hear what's she's saying! Sandrine Bonnaire seems to be anywhere except in her role, but Jacques Gamblin is good. Too bad for Chabrol's fans!

French movies are used to investigating human thoughts, behaviors. Chabrol makes it perfectly. As you might know, he is a typical French director, sometimes boring but specially relevant and with accurate analysis in this film. The feeling of jealousy and suspicion is perfectly depicted, Jacques Gamblin as a tortured painter is, as always, amazing and touching. The well known humorist for his Euro Trash show, Antoine De Caunes, is scheming and surprisingly good enough. It's true that Sandrine Bonnaire and Valeria Tedeschi are kind of insipid and correspond to the cold French woman stereotype I hate. Anyway, the film is perfectly directed and gives us some clues about the birth of jealousy.

In "Au coeur du mensonge" (literal translation "At the heart of the lie", English titel "The color of lies") a 10 year old child is killed at her way home from drawing lessons. Because the painter that gives these lessons (René Sterne played by Jacques Gamblin) is the last who saw the child alive he is the main suspect of not only inspector Frédérique Lesage (played by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi) but also of the rest of the village.

"Au coeur du mensonge" fits in the tradition of films in which people are condemned by a crowd in stead of by a judge. An old example of such a film is "Fury" (1936, Fritz Lang) but a more recent example (even younger than "Au coeur du mensonge" itself) is "Jagten" (2012, Thomas Vinterberg).

Initially I found the similarities with "Jagten" very strong, and it was only on closer inspection that I discovered some not unimportant differences.

In "Jagten" there is no real crime, only an accusation. The filmviewer knows this but the people in the village of course not. In "Au coeur du mensonge" on the other hand there is a real crime but no specific accusation. René Sterne is suspect because he is the last one who has seen the victim alive.

In "Jagten" the crowd turns violent on the accused. In "Au coeur du mensonge" the village "only" secludes the suspect.

In "Jagten" the conviction if the crowd is independent of the criminal authorities (just like in "Fury"). In "Au coeur du mensonge" the two run far more parallel because the new inspector Lesage is very eager to solve the case quickly in order to promote her own career.

From the first difference it follows that in "Jagten" it is clear from the very beginning that the accused is innocent while in "Au coeur du mensonge" the innocence of the suspect is in doubt until the very end, also for the viewer. After all Claude Chabrol was not called the French Hitchcock for nothing.

In "Jagten" Mads Mikkelsen gives a brilliant performance, In "Au coeur du mensonge" the performance of Jacques Gamblin is not inferior. His character René is a man that has acquired scars in an earlier phase of life. He tried to find a quiet life at the coast of Brittany and now is unable to defend against unspoken suscipions.

By the way the coastal landscapes of Brittany with their occasional fog greatly enhances the mood of this film.

Hi :) I've just seen 5x2 and I was stricken by the main actress's voice and was so sure that I had seen this actress before. I'm french and live in Australia for many years now. Here we have SBS (special Broadcasting Service) A TV station broadcasting many different countries movies) All I could remember from this movie was that voice...Then... this was of a police woman. It gave me a very strange feeling as if something was wrong, but I watched the movie and to be honest remembered little about it either good or bad beside my earlier comment. I would like to thank IMDb for the power of their database as in desperation I input "Valeria Bruni Policiere" and I came to this movie which I'm pretty sure is the right one. Please if you were put off by Valeria then, do not miss 5x2 on this account. So was the movie so forgettable or my memory failing me, I'll let you be the judge of this. Unlike the first comment chosen to describe it I can't remember being bored but,yes, I had to get use to that voice!

For Claude Chabrol,a cinéaste who has made over 50 films,this film must be like one of his loving children.However,his admirers might view it in a different light as it might appear as a minor work for them but many serious viewers would nevertheless feel that there are some nice things to observe in this film.Au coeur du mensonge is a film about people who are grappling with truths and lies in their lives.This film is more of a character study even though it is true that there are two crimes depicted in the film.These vile acts are merely a pretext for small town people to talk of pretentiousness and infidelity.Au coeur du mensonge is also a story about two artists;one of them is a fake and other one is not so sure of his inherent abilities.There is also a woman in their midst who is torn between these two men.The message of this film is simple:To understand a lie,one has to go to its heart.When we watch Sandrine Bonnaire and Jacques Gamblin, we realize that the truth is not so complicated as it is always visible on surface level.