I am blow away by this film. It is something I never expected to find while searching through Netflix randomly. That's the beauty of it I guess.
Synopsis: An award winner at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, Géla Babluani's taut neo-noir thriller sends its young protagonist, Sébastien (George Babluani), on a harrowing journey through a dark underworld of chaos and crime. Not one to seek adventure, Sébastien uncharacteristically throws caution to the wind when he decides to follow a set of instructions intended for someone else, leading him to a nightmarish destination from which he may never return.
From the first few minutes it seems like the film is going no where. The black and white cinematography threw me off because I wasn't expecting it. After the first few sequences nothing was making sense. I got lost in trying to figure out the film before it unravels. However, once the protagonist finds an envelope everything changes. The intensity slowly builds as the audience is allowed clues to what is going on. About half way through the film everything is explained and my jaw dropped, my heart started pounding, my breathing quickened. This film pulls you into the story and makes you want to scream at the screen.
The director, Gela Babluani, uses time and simplicity very well. There are only a few key elements to the film and they are so strong your mind is darting from one to the next. The shot choices only emphasize the tension and pulls you into the characters state of mind. Where it falls short is in setting up characters. We don't get a whole lot of back story and we never really attach to the main character. You will feel for him but then ending does not have a big enough punch because there was no work on the front end of the film.
I looked online and Gela Babluani is recreating this film for the US. Some of the big actors that are making an apperance are, Mickey Rourke, Jason Statham, ray Liotta, 50 Cent, and Ray Winstone. I'm sure that the film is going to greatly improve however I can't stop thinking that it will be ruined by turning comercialized and use a huge budget. I'm looking forward to see how it changes and where the original shines through.
Bellow is the trailer for the original film. The trailers I have found all give away too much. Here is one that is more simple and gives you a hit at whats coming.
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