Une affaire privée (2002) Reviews

• Good writing, good directing, very good editing but...

  vostf2002-04-29

  I didn't expect such a level of directing ease in that movie after I had seen its cheesy trailer twice. The lines are also very sharp as is the story but... ________Spoiler warninG________ It's a real pleasure to follow the line of this investigation although it's all mixed with the private affairs of François Manéri. You get to seize how meaningless his life has become. He is never really at a loss as usual Noir heroes: the quest for a clue or for what his investigation is about dwells absurdly on all his life. As Clarisse tells him he seems to ask for answers he doesn't care about. That's the way things are going and even before you get to wonder where they go it's the end, brought here in a very low-key style. Like a long fade-out on François'head with just the truth here to deride him, to say how much he has been passing by important things without noticing any. Or rather things have just passed him by. Well, it's consistent for it's more about the main character than about the truth (the girl he is paid to look for) but it's not sufficient for the average guy in his seat. It's not punchy enough an ending, perhaps because Clarisse is not mysterious enough and when she just come to bring in the solution you need not to believe it, you need not to understand it, it's the end and so it is. Ok that is not the kind of artificial Machiavellian plan which we should be told only in the end if we have been good. I shouldn't complain. But it was not easy to end a movie about a character who's lost the idea of rhythm in his life (thus I mention here that the editing of the dialogue on his tape over his actual life is one of the major achievements). Something must happen in the end because we are to leave our seats and not just going on with François'dreadful life. It's a major flaw since Une affaire privée would have been great if only they had tried to pull it tight. Perhaps they wanted to avoid to have François see clearly by himself, perhaps they didn't want to eye up on Vertigo. Personally I would have tried to have him find something she leaves for him to know and he doesn't want to know and he is arrested and we see the policemen saying hello to the real Clarisse and her friend. Too bad but many good things to take away.

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• Great sense of place - not as grim as it would like to be

  frontload2002-05-08

  This is a good Paris film which successfully inserts the viewer into the life of a ageing Parisian lothario and private dick, because let's face it, we've all known one. Thierry Lhermitte, more a bland celebrity than an actor, although the French would consider him a comedian, despite evidence to the contrary in, say, Le Placard, is captivating as the detective. The plot is pretty complicated, especially if you are following it in French without subtitles, and serves exclusively to move Lhermitte around and give us a glimpse of his creased, aloof character in a variety of locations including local colour (Paris buses on the outskirts of the city, a suburban street) and exotica (a swingers club, prompting a great gag). What is pleasing about the film is it is utterly unafraid to trot through the entire canon of private eye cliches without flinching and without becoming laughable. Lhermitte is divorced, lives in a crummy, poorly-lit flat and lives on canned food, principally beer, but remains thin. His wife is remarried, to a balding ex-friend who is good at sex. He is attractive to much younger women, naturally, and has a strong but uneven moral stance regarding others. He has clearly seen Chinatown so manages to acquire injuries requiring unsightly bandages early on. He has an unquestionably loyal older sidekick with an irritating dog! His car is rubbish! Nobody in the film opens their curtains at home or puts on moer than one 20w lamp, despite risking injury from collision with the heavy bits of furniture the French like so much. Lhermitte, and everyone in the film chainsmokes, save the dog, probably because it is illegal to make dogs smoke. Every his apartment appears there are more and more cartons of cigarettes on every surface, even in the fridge. This is a very enjoyable shaggy dog story, which like all s.d.s. is heavy on atmosphere and light on delivery.

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• Moody, murky, sexy detective story - and a glimpse into the life of the detective

  Chris_Docker2002-08-20

  A moody, sexy French detective story with more than a passing nod to the film noir tradition. We enter the strange murky world of private detective François Manéri as he tries to find out what happened to a missing girl. There's a lot to keep track of, and lots of false leads, but the overall achievement is in creating the story through the eyes of the main character, with all his flaws, than in a cut and paste murder mystery. I found the European very natural depiction of the skilled but all too human detective captivating, in stark contrast to the more formulaic characters of American detective stories.

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• A muddled affair.

  dbdumonteil2004-11-22

  Despite its clichés -the private is obligatory a divorced man,the plaster on his nose directly comes from Polanski's "Chinatown" ,"une affaire privée" has intellect ,atmosphere and even restrained emotion (Aurore Clement's two scenes are moving ) going for it.The first hour is even intriguing,sometimes recalling some famous works such as "Laura" and more obscure flicks such as "Sylvia" .The director,who is also the writer multiplies the characters at such a speed it's very hard to catch up with the plot,and in the second part,everything seems to fall apart ,well before the implausible de rigueur final unexpected twist (we think here of David Fincher's "the game" and "fight club").But the final cast and credits ,for once is worth a watch :it displays all the characters one by one,with a strange smile on their face ,almost disturbing,as if they were telling us "You' ve been had".Despite of its flaws,"une affaire privée" deserves to be watched.

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• rhythm and blues

  numero62002-04-22

  The atmosphere of the movie is amazing, the colors and the omnipresent music both stress the gloom and cynicism of the depicted world. Disillusionment, Lust, Strangeness, succesfully put together in an unusual private investigation.