Peau d'homme coeur de bête

the only other two reviews of this film on here at this time make it out to be awful. i don't think it was - i thought it was interesting. it isn't a film i can say that i "like" - it is very difficult to like this sort of horrifying film.. but i thought the characters were interesting and well-portrayed.. the young girls were very good. and i liked the ending very much. i guess the reason i did not hate this film was the performances and the fact that i was filled with a tension throughout the film - bad films do not generally fill me with anything but annoyance. and you can feel the tension from the beginning of this film, way before anything happens to confirm our suspicions.

it is not an easy ride, but i think it is worth it.

"Peau d'Homme Coeur de Bête" is a fairy tale in the classical sense. This isn't a Disney movie and we get the feeling that the children might be devoured at any moment. This tension runs throughout. Does this movie depict violence towards children? Not exactly. But the threat is real and ever-present. It saturates everything.

All of the men in this movie are struggling with their emotions and anger. After having left various male organizations (such as the military, the pseudo-military fraternity of cops and perhaps even prison) we see that these men don't know how to vent or focus their own aggression. It spills out. They lash out at those around them. When the men gather together this emotion tumbles from riot to celebration seemingly at random.

This is a dark portrait of "the heart of a beast" that beats within all men. In the end, however, there is a small sliver of hope. Perhaps it is possible, somehow, to vent this aggression in a non-destructive way.

Its the story of a guy who returns to his family after being gone for fifteen years. Then an hour later, he goes nuts and starts beating the crap out of everyone. He's the bad guy, I guess, but none of the characters are interesting or enlightening in any way. There's not much to this except watching this guy beat up all the females in the film for no reason. Pretty sick stuff really.

If ever there was a movie teaching people how NOT to act - it is this one. Horribly over-acted, Bernard Blancan (Coco) is particularly awful! The films saving grace is Cathy Hinderchied (Aurelie - the little girl) who is absoltely beautiful and actually acts her part better than all of the so-called accomplished older actors. The part where Coco thumps the gradmother should be shocking. Instead I burst out laughing - thanks completely to Bernard Blancan hilarious facial expression. The way he shows anger is to open his eyes wide. he uses the same facial expression for happiness, confusion, etc. etc.

Pascal Cervo as Alex is very under-used as he is a very promising actor who simply isn't given the chance to really shine...

Overall, a huge disappointment!!

I had read imdb users' comment before watching the film. I was very surprised. Though it is not the best film I ever watched, this film is very good. It is NOT a violent film - have a look at David Lynch's Lost Highway or Blue Velvet! It is not a thriller either. It tells the story of a lower class family in southern France. An uncle comes back after fifteen years. He pretends he was in the army but one guesses he was in prison - was he? It seems this guy is not clean and may get dangerous. Indeed, except killing a woman by accident, nothing happens but the tension is very high and you are expecting all the time the worst will happen : I was stuck to my chair.