neumu [ cinematronic ]




	Red Lights
	Cédric Kahn Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Carole Bouquet, Vincent Deniard, Charline Paul, Jean-Pierre Gos, Sava Lolov, Eric Moreau, Igor Skreblin 2004		From France comes the exceptional thriller "Red Lights" — intelligent, fraught with mystery, tension and dread. The film, directed and co-scripted by Cédric Kahn, is blessed with complex, thoroughly believable acting by its categorically unpretty leading man Jean-Pierre Darroussin and the unquestionably lovely former model Carole Bouquet. They portray Antoine and Hélène, a husband and wife whose marriage is already in dire straits when they set out from the city on an excursion to pick up their kids at camp. Antoine succumbs to his alcoholic tendencies on each stop along the highway, and Hélène becomes increasingly tense. The bickering mounts, and the journey takes one unsettling turn after another. "Red Lights," based on a novel by the prolific, meticulous French author Georges Simenon, constantly shifts gears and detours into uncharted terrain. Translating from the page to the screen, Kahn escalates the suspense, especially after Antoine meets a terse fellow (Vincent Deniard) during a "refueling" break at a roadside bar. Throughout, there's the intimation that the freeway is a reality apart from urban life, and governed by different rules of behavior. "Red Lights" is as perceptive about the covenants and compromises made between people as it is scary, exciting and tragic, with all the narcotic dreamy, relentless forward motion of an oppressively long road trip by night.


	Wednesday, December 18, 2024





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