Monsieur Hire
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Movie Reviews of Monsieur Hire
Movie Review: Men who love to much...Ouchh
Summary: 5 Stars
Men who love to much...Ouchh!!
Monsieur Hire (1989-Dir Patrice Laconte).
It has been mentioned that Patrice Laconte is the best example of a non-stereotyped cinema in France,(What has been colled "Cinema de Auteur") Paradoxically a citizen in the Country in which such artistic category was born. But I complete disagree with that. Man and feelings in all the small and soft variation those are the main issue of Patrice Laconte films.
How is to be a man in our western societies? Tha is his main quesion to be answered along his movies. Of course as a man himself there is always a bias, but that is also part of the game.
The long waiting DVD of "Monsieur Hire", is now out at the end of 2007, is almost a Christmas gift for the followers of Patrice Laconte's cinema. Monsieur Laconte is a man that lives like a shadow, he wants to be not detected, and because that he is hated. He is follow by a detective because in a case murder of a young women around the area, Monsieur Hire is the number one as the suspect list. The people around which he interact barely when it does also think that he was the murder and attacked him. He is a tailor, of Jewish origin (His grandfather and father were changed the name of Horrowitz to Hire). That also could imply another motive for to be an out-side like, why he is afraid of the surrounded and never respond to the object that people through him (Anti-Semitism in Frances in well-known in small towns).
He use to attend with local prostitutes but suddenly he found that he did not want to do that any more, he didn't want to be with a women in that conditions. He already noticed that a beautiful woman lives across his wndow, Alice (Sandrine Bonnaire), of which is love platónicamente, as any person timid. But, he is not foolish and sees more, however, the idealization by "love", and by his beloved, it becomes the moral standard. That is what use to happen in early romance poems of French Provence in which to fall in love, out of marriage, with another person was an institution just because LOVE (As a mythological god). Alice notice that M.Hire is looking at her, and she start to play the old game of "female cat and male mouse"
It is then that we find another topic in common in Patrice Laconte films: "Love" as feeling that catalyses what we are already, nothing more than that, by fortune! This occurs, even in the movie "Man on the train" (2002), where two men the poet and the gangster, feel love and nostalgia for the lives of each one. The poet (Jean Rochefort) by being a robber, and the thief (Johnny Hollyday), to live in a bourgeois home yhat closeness a museum museum.
Monsieur Hire is a further proof that love not enough in people relationships, that one-sided love complicates (there is one of Alice with his boyfriend about such issue: " ...If you love me a little, if one loves a lot that is enough").
Because M. Hire is a sincere, loving, sentimental, and with a house of his own in Switzerland that he puts on his woman feet. So it seem the outcome in many ways of human kin evolution, about the characteristics of man, humanized by women, that is not always value by some women, blinded by another man ("The real love" of course).
M. Hire is afraid of love, she loves to another guy, which is a lost case, and with which may not have a future, but she plays the chess pieces on the board. Finally we found that women in love are blindfold.
Rafael J. Salin-Pascual
Movie Review: When You See A Masterpiece You Know It
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a perfect film, an hour and 17 minutes; not a single shot that could be removed and maintain the same impact. This film is emotionally moving, something significantly different than I had imagined. The cover art leads one to believe that this film is about eroticism. This couldn't be farther from the point of this film. It is a film that requires the viewer to pay attention, to view virtually every frame.
The film is more about love, obsession, and unrequited love. Sandrine Bonnaire is absolutely stunning in this film, and plays her role to perfection. Michel Blanc is wonderful as the stoic tailor, so well cast. The chemistry between these two actors is amazing.
The film seems to be much more like Fritz Lang's M - 2 Disc Special Edition - Criterion Collection. Michel Blanc looks a bit like Peter Lorre. The classical music he plays every time he's watching Alice, evokes the Pyr Gynt theme in M. The crowds gathered around, especially when the detective forces Monsieur Hire to reinact running with an overcoat, are so similar to the scenes in M. The comparison does fall short a bit with Alice, who is not a little girl.
The director, Patrice Leconte, has chosen so carefully all aspects of this film, down to the focal length of lens used for each shot. He uses a very wide angle lens that has barrel distortion during certain scenes on the street. All the crafts fully support all aspects of this film. Editing is spot on with perfect pacing. Every shot is in perfect focus, exposure is exactly right, sound is crystal clear.
The DVD has one bonus feature, an interview with the director. This two minute monologue is worth watching. The film is in French with English subtitles. The translation appears to be done reasonably well.
This is almost an R rated film. There is no nudity, but the situations are very sensuous. There was no foul language translated, there is no violence. The opening scene shows a dead body. A mature 15 or 16 year old might be able to watch this film.
This is a masterpiece film. Patrice Leconte is a brilliant director. Sandrine Bonnaire is remarkable and a pleasure to watch.
Movie Review: Into the mind of a voyeur
Summary: 5 Stars
Monsieur Hire is another of many films by French director Patrice Leconte, who has a way of revealing to the viewer the bizarre mind of the protagonist, rather more important than the actions of the protagonist. Monsieur Hire is just that, a psychological mystery drama that is focusing on strange quirks, odd unexplained behavior that further makes up the image of a creepy voyeur.
You can't read his face; it is always the same deadpan, cold stare. As a voyeur, he doesn't reveal his fantasy, only when he closes his eyes, we get a hint of his satisfaction. As a tailor, he is always impeccable and his life seems orderly.
Ironically, at the bowling alley, he is an expert and takes on a different personality. In the neighborhood, he was loathed, and on the trail of a detective who has suspected him of murdering a young woman
Hire is obsessed with a beautiful young woman Alice, (Sandrine Bonnaire) as he peers into her window and he knows everything about her and her boyfriend, whose interests seem to be somewhere else rather than with her. When she discovers Hires eyes on her through the window, she responds and meets him. It is here that we wonder what her true motives are.
What you may notice of Leconte is not only the focus of the psychology of his characters, but the lighting of the film. There is a signature lighting, particularly with shadows on the face, the backdrop streetlight, etc.
The ending is suspenseful, surprising, and as far as the relationship, somewhat unexplained. I had one issue with a final scene, the mechanics of it, but cannot divulge it for fear of exposing the finale. Try a few others by Leconte Girl on the Bridge The Hairdresser's Husband and My Best Friend..... Rizzo
Movie Review: A Timeless Psychological Thriller
Summary: 5 Stars
I recently found a copy of Georges Simenon's 1933 "The Engagement" on the remainder table at a local bookstore. Simenon was an extraordinarily successful writer and this work is one of his very best. The novel is a psychological thriller with outward description giving the reader's imagination just enough to build an apprehension of what seems tragically inescapable. The movie follows the novel closely, not only in characterization and plot but in the setting as well. Life the novelist, we become aware of and sympathic to the emotional and spiritual pain underlying the Monsieur Hire's life. Visual clues draw the viewer into being a knowing partner in the story, a story that could be yours or mine given the randomness of events that set our apprehension in motion. As with the novel, the movie has comparatively little dialogue leaving the flow of visual events to engage us. An excellent modern, indeed timeless, movie.Movie Review: Overlooked Masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
I know many people who have never heard of this film. What a shame. First time I saw this was on my VCR years ago and I couldn't take my eyes off the screen. Sandrine Bonnaire is enchanting, perhaps even hypnotic in her portrayal. Michel Blanc is just right for his part of the obsessive male lead. Recently saw Vertigo which is about obsessive love and although different I much prefer Monsieur Hire. This movie reminded me of Vertigo as far as mood and Bonnaire totally eclipses Kim Novak
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