Having enjoyed "En liberté" directed by Salvatore, I had to discover more from his filmography, and I chose this one being a film noir fan. And I wasn't disappointed, Salvador I succeeds on every point with this modern film noir. It happens in Paris, area of Porte de la Chapelle, with some characters living dealing heroin to survive and have their own consommation of that nasty drug. We clearly see the filthy chain of those drugged dealers, lending themselves some packs for selling and giving back the money a few days later. But they are always quickly short of money, and that's the main problem. Too much nasty business. I usually dislike heroin movies because too many demonstrative on that killing drug, but in this movie, the characters are more important than their use of drugs (not really shown) and the intelligent script focuses on their decisions that lead to tragic confusions. All casting is terrific with Golovine, Depardieu (brother and sister), Castel. But my favorite are Serge Rabioukine as the café owner and Matthieu Demy as the dealer. There is a reprentative panel of rich and poor, honest and dishonest characters. All the settings in the area of La Chapelle are greatly used, from cafés to old streets to clubs. The strong rhythm of the direction, the twists of the plots and the magnificent casting offer us a moody and tragic movie. Yes, Salvatori is a great director, he deserves some day a real great ambitious project to get even higher. And yes in France, we still have a cinema de genre noir.
Review of Les marchands de sable
