Word: audiard
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...case of Jacques Audiard's film, The Beat, his protagonist Tom (Romain Duris) is in "real estate." Translated, that means he beats up the tenants in the low-rent buildings he and his partners hope to turn into high-rent properties. On the side, he provides similar services for his slumlord father, who's fading into senility. His late mother, however, was a famous pianist whose talent he has inherited. One day he encounters her agent, who encourages his return to the keyboard. Soon his fingers are flying--and his strong arm is beginning to atrophy...
...least, a busy movie. But it is also a curiously persuasive one. Maybe it is somehow easier to believe that a shady character living on the dark side of the City of Light might harbor high cultural aspirations. Then, too, Audiard has the French eye for mean streets. And cramped apartments. And less than salubrious bars and restaurants. The picture feels--as so many French films do--lived in, not art-directed...
...this defect by being an expert lip-reader. Now, this is a skill a bad guy can use. Soon she's perched on a rooftop, peering through binoculars, learning the secrets of a criminal gang whose ill-gotten gains he plans to heist. The comedic first part of Jacques Audiard's film doesn't achieve a seamless connection with its melodramatic second half, but you can't deny the originality of his conceit or the tart cynicism of its development...
Maybe we should leave noir to the French and other outsiders; they are less likely to go simple with sentiment. Two handsome films, Jacques Audiard's A Self Made Hero and Arturo Ripstein's Deep Crimson, take a smart, stony-eyed look at chicanery in the '40s. Some cunning insects are on display, and not a tear needs to be shed for them or their victims...
Along with all the attentions which Mammi has received from the costume director of the movie, she also gets exclusive delivery privileges of the film's choicest lines, as written by dialogue director Michel Audiard. When Mammi catches Pappi taking a peek at Playboy, she remonstrates, "Pappi! Don't do that, honey. You shall give yourself nightmares. Please! Be sensible!". When she has to wear a business suit, she complains, "I hate flat shoes! I absolutly hate flat shoes! How can anybody ever keep their balance in these damn things!". Funny dialogue is great, but gestures and expression make Serrault...