Writer/director Vincent Garenq doesn’t let anyone off the hook in this fact-based story of a father’s 30-year search for justice after losing a daughter. The viewer left not with a sense of triumph at justice served, but with a bitter aftertaste on the whole affair. Daniel Auteuil refuses to court pity as the father, a real-life Inspector Javert finding obstacle after obstacle (legal, logistical, international) in building his case not against some saintly Jean Valjean figure, but to bring down a slick, psychopathic doctor (Sebastian Koch) who lured his wife into an affair (stalking’s more like it) then, years later, took advantage of the daughter, Kalinka, during a summer visit. Auteuil’s father admirable in dogged pursuit, but hardly likable, quickly sees thru the doctor’s lies after the girl mysteriously dies, but that’s the only quick action he’ll have in his pursuit of justice, burning thru 30 years of his life living up to a promise made to his late daughter. In doing so, running out the patience of a son and a sympathetic new partner he might have had a second family with. His monomania using up all his energy. Just as troubling, his ex-wife’s denial in the face of mounting evidence, unwilling to admit to a role in events even after she’s left the doctor. Garenq lets this play out in short sharp shocks, jumping back in a year or two later. It’s very effective, with power games played behind the scenes by legal systems working at cross-purposes to defend international border integrity. A well-told, but most distressing story.
DB/LINK: And now for something completely different . . . While Auteuil’s serious roles get more attention (or is it just better international distribution?), his range is impressive as seen in a much earlier, wild & goofy swashbuckler in a tradition long thought unrecoverable. Yet with an old director and an old tale, this 1997 version of LE BOSSU puts it across with panache. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2008/05/le-bossuon-guard-1997.html
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