‘Red Lights’ (or 'Feux Rouges' to give it it's French title) is the kind of movie that the French do best, and would never get made by any other country’s mainstream film industry. No one else does this sort of drama, in this kind of way. The look, the style and the content is so French!
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Cedric Kahn's tense Hitchcockian thriller stars Jean-Pierre Darroussin and Carole Bouquet ... more
as a couple who unwittingly embark on a dangerous and terrifying journey into the night. On the hottest day of the year Antoine & Helene hit the road destined...
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Advantages: A taut, tense thriller Disadvantages: Slow, talking heads film at beginning
...The opening scenes of Red Lights are all about Antoine and Hélène (Carole Bouquet from 'Summer Things') . Talking in a café, in their home and in the car, a picture of a couple gradually becoming irritated by the throngs of traffic and each other. Hélène resorts to sarcasm and Antoine to machismo and drink, seemingly taking every opportunity to have one more small drink.
As the beautifully shot landscape of the French countryside gradually ... .../>
The rest of Red Lights is set around Antoine as he travels on to pick up his children and hopefully meet up with his wife. He picks up a hitchhiker in yet another bar and the story turns even darker, there is an almost David Lynch like dream/surrealism to this part of the movie. You are not quite sure what has happened during this sequence of events (Speaking to two other viewers afterwards proving this as we all had different ideas of what was ... more
‘Red Lights’ (or 'Feux Rouges' to give it it's French title) is the kind of movie that the French do best, and would never get made by any other country’s mainstream film industry. No one else does this sort of drama, in this kind of way. The look, the style and the content is so French!
French cinema is often based around relationships and how they start, continue or finish. For example just in the recent 6-8 months we’ve had Nathalie, Les Trops De Intimacie, Petits Coupures and Lucas Belvaux’s stunning trilogy ‘One’, ‘Two’ and ‘Three’. All of which are strongly based around the relationships of the main characters and Trilogy even going as far as using three different genres of film to do this (comedy, thriller and drama).
‘Red Lights’ is a drama based around the relationship of Antoine and Hélène, a husband and wife, who are heading off into the country to pick up their children from a summer camp. It is a relationship already fraught with suspicion and mistrust; they are obviously not on the best of terms from the start, something that leads to Antoine having a drink or two before leaving, steeling his nerves for the long drive ahead. The relationship is going to be strained even further by the long journey out of Paris, surrounded by thousands of other holidaymakers all heading out into the countryside on one of France’s favourite bank holidays.
The opening scenes of Red Lights are all about Antoine and Hélène (Carole Bouquet from 'Summer Things') . Talking in a café, in their home and in the car, a picture of a couple gradually becoming irritated by the throngs of traffic and each other. Hélène resorts to sarcasm and Antoine to machismo and drink, seemingly taking every opportunity to have one more small drink.
As the beautifully shot landscape of the French countryside gradually turns to darkness and a horizon of red brake lights fills the road ahead the relationship sours even further. While Antoine visits yet another bar Hélène vanishes. Has she done what she said and left him to travel by train or has something happened to her? You are not really sure and thereby hangs the rest of the story.
The rest of Red Lights is set around Antoine as he travels on to pick up his children and hopefully meet up with his wife. He picks up a hitchhiker in yet another bar and the story turns even darker, there is an almost David Lynch like dream/surrealism to this part of the movie. You are not quite sure what has happened during this sequence of events (Speaking to two other viewers afterwards proving this as we all had different ideas of what was going on during this section!) and find yourself trying to piece together the possibilities.
Based on a story by the Belgian author Georges Simenon, the creator of Maigret, there is an element of thriller that now comes into the film. This adds a whole new layer to the overall story, the relationship between Antoine and Hélène and also racks up the tension for the audience.
This new aspect to Red Lights cleverly makes you think back over what has gone before, trying to see if there is anything that could be reinterpreted. Was there something heard or viewed that may help? This is quality film making at it’s best.
Cedric Kahn, the director (and writer of Roberto Succo), even manages to make a succession of phone calls, made by an increasingly panicked Antoine, into a compulsive scene. Jean-Pierre Darroussin as Antoine is compelling as you watch him in a small bar feeding a pay phone, trying to find out where Hélène is. The camera focuses on him, occasionally pulling out to show the waitress as well as he asks her questions, as he dials number after number. This is an incredibly well executed scene, superbly acted and perfectly shot. I would not have thought that such a simple scene could be so compelling!
Red Lights is a film that gets a green light from me!
Advantages: Great for keeping little ones quiet Disadvantages: the song! little red tractor he's king of the field...........
you are if you try your hardest you can sometimes be the best.
The main caractors are
'our hero' Little red tractor
Stan (voiced by Stephen Tompkinson)
Mr Jones (voiced by Derek Griffiths)
Big Blue
Nipper
Stumpy
Zack and Noami.
The stories are based on the books by Colin Reeder and are made by Little Entertainment Production for CBBC
the history of the stories began when Stan inherited Gosling Farm he found a run-down but endearing place in need of much work and restoration.
The greatest find however, was a cute little tractor buried beneath a tarpaulin.
With a good deal of patience and skill Stan began the job of restoring Little Red Tractor to look good as new, much to the joy of the locals who were delighted to see Gosling Farm and its much loved tractor thriving once more.
The dvd I got was the 'Winter Lights ...
Advantages: Fresh, new, confident Disadvantages: slow going and long miniseries
the ships flying there is a zoom and chase sort of filming which has the effect of you chasing after the fast moving item.
The DVD has the mysterious eye with a redlight in, which is pretty arty, and since at this point we do not know much of the cast its pointless putting them on the front and to put the battlestar on the front makes it look geeky.
There are no special features on the DVD, it could have done with a bit of input from the creaters, but this will no doubt be re- released later on with this in mind.
Also note that all paper in the show has the corner cut off, this is to signify that corners were cut to film the show
Though you do not get any chapters in the DVD box or any guide, plus it runs its whole length in one go, and really over 3 hours is a long time to sit and constantly watch a show, you get the numb bum deal ...
Advantages: Promotes early learning!! Disadvantages: Not easily available.
and the set up is easy and relatively painless!!!).
On the remote control are the page forward and page back buttons, they have to be pressed down for at least two seconds to put the remote into programming mode, to show it is in mode a redlight comes on and stays on at the top of the remote.
You then have to position the childs remote and your dvd player remote so that the sensors on them are touching.
There is a list of the buttons on the childs remote and the corresponding button to be pressed on the dvd player remote listed on the inside of the book, the buttons must be pressed at exactly the same time. The light will flash three times thus showing that particular button has been programmed. Once all the buttons have been programmed press the page forward and back buttons together and the light will go off, meaning the remote is now ...
Exceptional ... accomplished and assured (Empire, )
Sublime ... a mini masterpiece of tension building (Film Review, )
The best French film I've seen all year ... outstanding (The Daily Telegraph, )
Masterful ... the leads are remarkably good ... one of the best French directors working today (Time Out, )
Suspenseful ... an impressive, intelligent work (Total Film, )
DVD Description
Starring French cinema legends Carole Bouquet (THAT OBSCURE OBJECT OF DESIRE) and Jean-Pierre Darroussin (UN AIR DE FAMILLE), director Cedric Kahn's thriller, based on a novel by Georges Simenon, features dry humour and Hitchcockian suspense. The relationship between Antoine (Darroussin) and Helene (Bouquet) is deteriorating. Helene spends more time at work, Antoine drinks, and the two act like mere acquaintances, not lovers. When Antoine stops at a bar and Helene threatens to continue without him, a fight erupts between them. Angry and drunk, Antoine insists on staying in the bar, but when he emerges he finds the car empty, save for a note saying that Helene has left for the train. In a drunken stupor, Antoine attempts to follow his wife's trail, joined by a mysterious and dangerous hitchhiker, without realising that the obvious way to find her has been in front of him the entire time. Bouquet and Darroussin play off each other beautifully. Darroussin convincingly plays a man who has lost himself. And Bouquet is strong as a wife who has placed her husband at the bottom of her priority list. That a tragedy is the one thing that can help them repair their fractured marriage feels palpably realistic. At its heart, RED LIGHTS is an exploration of intimacy, love, and what it takes to build a successful relationship, but the film also provides satisfying humorous chills and nice dose of suspense.
A "Grimm-er" Live Action (PG) Take on This Classic Brothers Grimm Tale, Directed by the Screenwriter/Co-Author of Edward Scissorhands (Caroline Thompson)
Possibly Not Suitable for Younger Children (not Disney Animation "Pretty-Pretty" version) - Miranda Richardson dominates the action and steals the show as the stepmother. (*)
![Red Lights [2004] [DVD]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78508045.jpg)
