Review of Monsieur Hire (1989) by Tonypolito — 20 Nov 2010
A stylish, enjoyable tale of French tragic romance and murder mystery from Leconte ... that has largely escaped notice.
Living as an odd, anal-retentive (though well-dressed) middle-aged hermit, drier than an accountant in the Mohave, and given to creepy "Rear Window"-styled voyeurism of an attractive woman in his building (Bonnaire), Mr. Hire (Blanc) makes for the perfect suspect in the recent murder of a young girl in his neighborhood.
The who-dun-it takes an even stranger turn when Bonnaire begins to readily cooperate with having Blanc as audience - and then even turns up as the uninvited flirt standing in Blanc's apartment. At which point the motives, strategies and fates of Bonnaire and Blanc's flirtations become the larger mystery.
The viewer watches as both mysteries slowly unravel - and good causes for sympathy with Blanc emerge. There's a pretty clever twist or two on the way to fin. Oooh-la-la !!
Blanc delivers a strong performance in his creation of both a distasteful and admirable character within this single role. Bonnaire is both competent and seductive.
Almost 20 years-old and only DVD-released in 2007. Monsieur Hire is a remake of Duvivier's Panique (1948), a film not found in retail circulation.
RECOMMENDATION: Especially for admirers of the French romance genre. But it's clever enough to entertain lovers of traditional who-dun-its as well.
NB: If you liked the romantic content in this one, be sure to check out LeConte's excellent "The Hairdresser's Husband.".
This review of Monsieur Hire (1989) was written by Tonypolito on 20 Nov 2010.
Monsieur Hire has generally received very positive reviews.
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