London Film Festival was great, as was Kevin Smith chatting away at the Indigo 02
London Film Festival was great, as was Kevin Smith chatting away at the Indigo 02
Member since:07.09.2004
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‘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!
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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
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...
![Red Lights [2004] [DVD]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78508045.jpg "Red Lights [2004] [DVD]")
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