IFFR 2008: LE TUEUR Review

Editor, Europe; Rotterdam, The Netherlands (@ardvark23)
IFFR 2008: LE TUEUR Review

Earlier we reported about Cédric Anger's first feature "Le Tueur" (The Killer), stating that France currently releases its fair share of tough genre movies and that this one looked to be loaded with guns and drugs.

Well... that last part is not quite true.
It does have a gun and some drugs in it, but don't go in expecting a "Dobermann"-esque action film. Instead it's a sedate character drama with some nice twists, and which focuses on the relationship between a businessman and the hitman hired to kill him.

Read on after the break...

The Story:

Dimitri Kopas is a young contract killer who is on an easy assignment in Paris: kill businessman Léo Zimmermann and leave. The very paranoid Léo recognizes him for what he is though, and makes contact.

Léo explains to Dimitri that he is currently finalizing a business investment which will leave his eight-year-old daughter financially independent, so he proposes a deal: if Dimitri leaves him alive for another two days to finish up his affairs, Léo will in turn be an easy victim and totally cooperate in his own murder.

Dimitri reluctantly agrees, telling Léo his daughter will be killed if he decides to make a run for it.
It's a simple enough deal until a bored Dimitri starts investigating his victim and makes some startling discoveries.


The Movie:

The setup used here is "killer gets to know his victim" which is not exactly the most original, but the story develops in an unexpected way.

Granted, it would have been fun if Dimitri and Léo would team up and battle a Parisian crime-syndicate together (needing guns, lots of them), but this isn't that sort of movie. Or another easy possibility: Dimitri and Léo become friends so Dimitri devises a way to let Léo off the hook, but it's not that kind of movie either.

Instead it is an intelligent look at how two peoples' screwed up lives can interact with each other, leaving some unexpected results. Both men know how this will end and Dimitri has no more chance of avoiding this kill than Léo has, but as long as they haven't arrived at that point yet anything can happen.

All this takes place in one of the less glamorous parts of Paris, and that city looks surprisingly bland for a change. This is intentional though: it keeps the attention on the few people who are important in this tale. And even though much of their actions consist of waiting and MORE waiting, the leads can't let each other get too far away so they're stuck in this place...

Cédric Anger films his first movie at a very leisurely pace. So leisurely in fact that for a moment I was afraid he'd pull a "Skyjacker" on me and would just film Dimitri for an hour, whiling away the time until the agreed date. Thankfully this isn't the case and the audience get a few glimpses into the backgrounds of both killer and victim. And, realistically, both men aren't portrayed as Saints.

Such a movie of course can't work without strong lead performances, and thankfully both Grégoire Colin (as Dimitri the hitman) and Gilbert Melki (as Léo the target) are excellent. Especially Melki has to portray a lot of layers and makes it look easy.

I'd like to say so much more but that would all be linked to some pretty strong spoilers, so... let's not.
Suffice to say that I left the cinema impressed.

And I wasn't alone, the Rotterdam audience granted this movie a rating of 3.91 (out of 5), which is good and deserved.


Conclusion:

Is there an opposite kind of thriller to a "noir"? If not, this one comes awfully close!
A splendidly acted little drama which occasionally shows the GOOD side in people, even though the story arc and its execution (haha) never become sentimental or naive.

Recommended, but for the patient amongst us.

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More from Around the Web

The "Le Tueur" page on the IFFR 2008 website.
You'll find the trailer and clips on Allocine.

More about Le Tueur

Around the Internet