David O'ConnellThe voyeuristic Monsieur Hire
August 19th 2008 03:15
Patrice Leconte has been one of France’s most renowned filmmakers for over 30 years, and his continually high standard means that many obscure gems have flown under the radar but are now ripe for rediscovery on DVD. His 1989 drama, based on a crime novel by Georges Simenon, is one of them - a chamber piece of sorts, with basically only 4 characters, but with such clever construction and interesting creations he keeps the audience intrigued right up until the irony-laced, bittersweet denouement.
Monsieur Hire (Michel Blanc) is an ordinary man, a humble tailor, but his dislike for all humanity means that he’s a figure of some ridicule in his community, with conversations pausing as he passes, and children teasing him in different, sometimes cruel, ways. When a pretty young girl is murdered in the vicinity, the lead detective (Andre Wilms) is only too willing to suspect the suspicious, reclusive Monsieur Hire of the ghastly deed.
Hire has very little contact with women other than a brothel he frequents; he does have one other passion however and that’s spying on his neighbour in an adjacent building, the young and beautiful Alice (Sandrine Bonnaire), who takes a while to realize that she, and occasionally her boyfriend, Emile (Luc Thuillier) have a regular ‘viewer’!
Instead of acting horrified and retreating, she becomes curious, and decides to bait Monsieur Hire with a series of psychological games. Before long she’s confronted him and they begin a very peculiar, unexpected relationship, with both harboring dangerous secrets all the while.
The film seems to be traveling in a particular direction after this but Leconte has a few tricks up his sleeve, and there are some very neat developments along the way as the two minor characters fade into the background for a while, allowing Monsieur Hire and the object of his desire and soon, obsession, to take centre stage.
Like all of Leconte’s films this one is simply, but beautifully, shot; he has an elegant, pared-down, very economical visual style, and this could have been filmed last week, there’s barely a hint of its age betrayed in its appearance.
The wonderful Michael Nyman score, with his trademark lush minimalism, works perfectly too, providing a couple of key scenes with a beautiful, haunting fragility and it’s a shame Leconte hasn’t employed his services more over the years. A Brahms piano piece also recurs as a kind of theme for Hire’s voyeuristic attentions.
The two leads are exceptional, with the stoic Blanc inhabiting Monsieur Hire with a believable inner strength, whilst the beautiful Bonnaire is glowing in an early role for her; she’s become one of my favourite French actresses over the years and continues to work with Leconte on occasion, as well as the legendary Claude Chabrol and others.
Monsieur Hire easily stands alongside Leconte’s finest work; it’s one of those cleverly written, small-scale dramas with the power to hypnotise and intrigue because you never know exactly where it’s heading. It has the advantage of only being 75 minutes long as well so there’s not a moment of padding, it’s a quality piece of drama from first moment to last, and highly recommended.
Monsieur Hire (Michel Blanc) is an ordinary man, a humble tailor, but his dislike for all humanity means that he’s a figure of some ridicule in his community, with conversations pausing as he passes, and children teasing him in different, sometimes cruel, ways. When a pretty young girl is murdered in the vicinity, the lead detective (Andre Wilms) is only too willing to suspect the suspicious, reclusive Monsieur Hire of the ghastly deed.
Hire has very little contact with women other than a brothel he frequents; he does have one other passion however and that’s spying on his neighbour in an adjacent building, the young and beautiful Alice (Sandrine Bonnaire), who takes a while to realize that she, and occasionally her boyfriend, Emile (Luc Thuillier) have a regular ‘viewer’!
Instead of acting horrified and retreating, she becomes curious, and decides to bait Monsieur Hire with a series of psychological games. Before long she’s confronted him and they begin a very peculiar, unexpected relationship, with both harboring dangerous secrets all the while.
The film seems to be traveling in a particular direction after this but Leconte has a few tricks up his sleeve, and there are some very neat developments along the way as the two minor characters fade into the background for a while, allowing Monsieur Hire and the object of his desire and soon, obsession, to take centre stage.
Monsieur Hire's perfect view across the way
Like all of Leconte’s films this one is simply, but beautifully, shot; he has an elegant, pared-down, very economical visual style, and this could have been filmed last week, there’s barely a hint of its age betrayed in its appearance.
The wonderful Michael Nyman score, with his trademark lush minimalism, works perfectly too, providing a couple of key scenes with a beautiful, haunting fragility and it’s a shame Leconte hasn’t employed his services more over the years. A Brahms piano piece also recurs as a kind of theme for Hire’s voyeuristic attentions.
Monsieur Hire with the detective (Andre Wilms) who is hounding him
The two leads are exceptional, with the stoic Blanc inhabiting Monsieur Hire with a believable inner strength, whilst the beautiful Bonnaire is glowing in an early role for her; she’s become one of my favourite French actresses over the years and continues to work with Leconte on occasion, as well as the legendary Claude Chabrol and others.
Monsieur Hire easily stands alongside Leconte’s finest work; it’s one of those cleverly written, small-scale dramas with the power to hypnotise and intrigue because you never know exactly where it’s heading. It has the advantage of only being 75 minutes long as well so there’s not a moment of padding, it’s a quality piece of drama from first moment to last, and highly recommended.
A beautiful young Sandrine Bonnaire as Alice
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Comment by Cibbuano
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Comment by David O'Connell
Screen Fanatic
I can't wait to get the 2nd set, though it sadly doesn't include the sublimely brilliant Man on the Train either, my favourite of his films.