Serie Noire (1979)

Fresh and Exciting

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

The movie is surprisingly subdued in its pacing, its characterizations, and its go-for-broke sensibilities.

IMDb synopsis says that Franck Poupart, played by Patrick Dewaere, is 'slightly neurotic'. It's actually much worse, Poupart is a complete maniac, left unsupervised in a jungle of HLM, terrains vagues, poverty and filth. He even readily mumbles to himself that he's psychotic.I heard of Série noire when looking up Dewaere bio on wikipedia. It was mentioned how physically hard the filming was on the actors, and on Dewaere in particular. The characters keep fighting and shouting at each other, and they won't stop until they're completely exhausted or drunk. Except of course for Blier, who plays the soft spoken treacherous coward. I found this movie very close in spirit to Zola who would place weak personalities in a closed environment to sadistically observe what happens. Everyone is to blame for what happens, everyone is guilty. This is a true chef d'œuvre, but a disturbing one, the kind of movie you'll be thinking of for days to come. It's all about madness, and you'll wonder how far you are from falling into it.

French slacker Franck Poupart is having a hard time as a door-to-door salesman. Basically, his merchandise is of doubtful quality. One day, while driving in a suburban area, he spots a beautiful woman on a window. He decides to stop by the house. An older lady answers the door. From what Franck shows her she decides on a house coat. As a form of payment, the old woman offers him to go upstairs, where Mona is happy to oblige, getting completely naked, a feast for Patrick's eyes, but he refuses to do anything. As he leaves the house, the old lady suggests he brings her a warm winter coat.At home, Franck's life is in disarray. Not only is his house something of a mess, his life with his wife, Jeanne, has seen better days. After a confrontation where he slaps her, Jeanne decides to walk out. At work, Franck is in trouble with his boss, Staplin, who clearly realizes his employee is up to no good, who cannot even collect from a poor man, Tikides, the money for the suit of inferior material he got from Franck.Abandoned by Jeanne, Franck gets a visit from Mona. She tells him about the possibility of getting some easy money from the older woman. The plot involves Tikides, who after a drinking bout with the salesman, is ready for anything. Franck has a confrontation with the lady, something that ends badly. He never finds money in the house, but he gets a gun under the mattress.Alain Corneau neonoir film showed up recently on cable. Not having seen it, we decided to take a look. "Series Noir" is somewhat dated. The copy shown had a faded look to it, that together with the depressing atmosphere of the staging, did not contribute to its enjoyment. Patrick Dewaere's appearance was what motivated this viewer to watch it. This actor, who sadly disappeared much too early, gives an intense reading to his Franck. We found him somewhat irritating in his approach to this scumbag he was portraying, although, judging from other comments we are in the minority. Same could be said of Marie Trintignant's Mona. The great Bernard Blier is excellent as the boss. The adaptation of Jim Thompson's novel was written by the director and Georges Perec.

Alain Corneau is amongst the finest of the current writer-directors in France which makes it all the more surprising that he didn't attempt to tighten this script and erase some of the more obvious holes. Frank Poupart (Daeware) is a not very good door-to-door salesman peddling household goods from a suitcase so it is highly unlikely - make that impossible - that he would be able to produce a mohair dressing gown in Extra Large when an old lady asks for one. This is an important point because to a certain extent the rest of the movie hinges on it. Had he said he didn't carry such items, which would have been true, the old lady would not have invited him inside and he would not have met her niece (Trintignant) and slipped into the downward spiral that led to three murders. At a basic level it's the kind of situation - man meets femme fatale and it all ends in tears - that produced such classics as The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity, etc, but in each of those cases - a man is hired to work in a restaurant, meets the wife of the owner and starts an affair with her; insurance salesman calls at client's home to get him to renew a policy on the verge of expiring, meets the man's wife, starts an affair respectively the meetings were quite normal and not contrived as here. If you can get past that - plus the wife who goes from slut to Good Housekeeping Wife Of The Year overnight - then this is a fine, darkly comic, slightly surreal entry in which there are no winners. The mood is almost totally melancholic with gloom the predominant shade and Daeware weighs in with a remarkable performance and trivia buffs will enjoy learning that the actress who played his wife (and wound up dead) is the mother of Clovis Cornillac.

One of the most original film experiences of the 70s is certainly French. Série noire is distinctive in its narrative and the form is never overwhelming the content.Although most of it seems improvised, it is always surprising to learn that all of it was written down to the last word by Perec.The most fascinating aspect of this movie is the angle of "harsh realism" that Corneau chose to tell the story. No external music is polluting the grimy atmosphere depicted with true to life colors and textures. And yet, it is one of the most romantic movie - in the purest form of the genre - that one can wish for.And how can anyone not be touched by the late Patrick Deweare acting. It has been said that this movie took such a toll on the actor that some are almost suggesting that it was the starting point of his depressive state. It is truly a very moving, strong performance, full of surprise and nuance, almost so strong that it is unbearable to watch.For those who are searching for a new kind of film making and acting, Série noire is certainly one of the best movies to provide such an experience.