French writer-director Cedric Kahn follows up his cooly impressive portrait of a schizophrenic killer Roberto Succo with this absorbing and suspenseful thriller, adapted from a Georges Simenon novel. A middle-aged married couple are driving during the August exodus from Paris to the south of France to pick up their children from summer camp. Traffic is at a standstill on the motorways, and a drunk Antoine (Jean-Pierre Darroussin) furiously rows with his wife Helene (Carole Bouquet). She disappears into the night at a rest-stop, whilst he gives a lift to a dangerous fugitive (Vincent Deniard).
The "red lights" in Kahn's dissection of marital discord and paranoid masculinity are as much metaphorical as literal. The insecure and resentful Antoine, an insurance worker, yearns to "be free" and to "live like a man", and is acutely jealous of the beautiful Helene, who is a high-flying corporate lawyer. The acting out of his desires - which is facilitated by his nightmarish encounter with the escaped prisoner - comes at a chilling cost.
"KAHN CREATES AN ATMOSPHERE OF UNREALITY"
From the opening overhead shot of employees scuttling across a concourse like ants, Kahn creates an atmosphere of unreality, which is heightened by the decision to shoot the night-time car scenes in the studio rather than on location. The settings are rich in symbolism, such as the underground bar that the protagonist descends into when meeting the man on the run for the first time, or the dark forest which is the scene of their terrifying confrontation. With key narrative events occurring off-screen added to Antoine's disintegrating state-of-mind, there's considerable ambiguity in Red Lights as to the veracity of what we're being shown. And in an outstanding performance, Darroussin bravely lays bare the pathetic, self-pitying and tormented nature of the film's nominal hero.
French language with English subtitles.
Red Lights (Feux Rouges) is released in UK cinemas Friday 10th September 2004.
Red Lights (Feux Rouges) (2004)
