En face (2000) User Reviews

Stylistically goofy film falls apart at the end

[toclement · 5/10 · 2 September 2001]

The blurb I had read about "en face" said it was supposed to be a love story about intense passion, so I was surprised when it actually was more of a suspense/thriller. But once I settled into the chair and started getting into the story, I was happy to switch my expectation gears. The story is about an amourous, but poor couple that inherits (from a complete stranger) the equivalent of a "haunted mansion" in the heart of Paris' Montmartre district. The house isn't really haunted, but it's creepy and the maid who works there is even creepier (in classic haunted house style, part of the terms of the inheritance are that the maid must be kept on, or they will lose the house).

The manner in which the maid is filmed and costumed make her out to be too much of a charicature to be taken too seriously. Yet this stylistic quibble aside, I was gradually being drawn into the plot and was looking forward to what I hoped would be a dramatic, but interesting climax. I knew I wasn't watching a great movie, but was hopeful that it would still be entertaining enough to warrant the price of admission.

Unfortunately the ending pretty much blew it with an overly baffling turn of events riddled with annoying music and incessant cuts and edits. It made little sense and there were so many holes and unanswered questions in the plot that I left the cinema with one of those "what the...?" expressions on my face. The film suffered from the writer's (or director's) desire to make a final statement about love, rather than just create a believable finale. Not good, but not horrible either (5/10)

It has its moments, but in the end it's a case of style over substance

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 16 January 2015]

This French thriller is a difficult one to define. It seems to be a romantic film crossed with a suspense thriller, set in a spooky old haunted house straight out of an old horror film, complete with a clichéd mysterious maid who seems to know more about the situation than she lets on. As the film progresses the plot unwinds and things become more complex, occasionally shocking us with scenes of sexual violence and passion. Sadly the wannabe-stylish direction saps the film of substance and makes it difficult to watch in places and the ending is all over the shop, cross-cutting between three different situations, throwing in loads of explanations as to the mystery whilst creating more at the same time, ending as a confusing and largely unsatisfying mess that bizarrely manages to be happy and tragic both at the same time.

I haven't really seen many recent French films so I don't really know if this can be classed as a good example of their kind. I'm left with mixed feelings after watching it. The down-to-earth nature of the filming techniques and everyday characters gives it an earthy realism missing in American productions whilst the acting is pretty solid, especially from Jean-Hughes Anglade (MAXIMUM RISK) who underplays it as the unsuccessful author of a husband. Clotilde Coureau has little to do other than be sexy and sweet as his young wife, which she manages perfectly, although some of the heavy stuff towards the end seems to be a little above her abilities. Christine Boisson is pretty good as the creepy maid and has some nice character development as the film progresses, although I would have liked to see more of her character motivations as her final scene leaves a lot unresolved. As this is essentially a three-hander, the rest of the cast don't get much of a look in.

The setting of the house is fine and a lot of the kind-of horror aspects are well played, especially the half-wiped videotape which gave me the creeps even though it's not portrayed in a horrific fashion at all but a voyeuristic one. Unfortunately direction by Mathias Ledoux is lacking and goes for style over substance which is a bit of a disappointment. The story and plot are clever and the mystery is interesting, but the way in which it is explained leaves a lot to be desired and the viewer is left unsatisfied at the way such explanation is handled. Better direction and a story concentrating on dialogue instead of mindless activity would have helped propel this into a watchable movie, but it stands as a disappointment.

Lack of intelligence by the viewers is not a scriptwriters fault.

[Gong5 · 13 January 2009]

Love conquers all, or does it? And at what price? At what price to love itself? Will love triumph, or will it be defeated. Can it be defeated triumphantly? What are these other guys who reviewed this blathering on about? Especially the guy that rated this a two, Jesus Christ, garbage after garbage comes out and this film gets his two? It gets my ten, this is a heartfelt, wonderful, lustful film. Everyone involved excel themselves in their performances. They play a couple very much in love with each other...Clotilde is a breath of fresh air. There's so much tension and suspense too.

There are no holes whatsoever in the ending, which makes for one of the most heart wrenching, poignant and splendid twist finale's in, let me say this cinematographic history. What an aching finale, so, so beautiful. Of course if the viewers' are baffled because of their low IQs that's not something the screenwriter can do anything about. We can't have all film being common idiocy Hollywood type films. I tell you guys and gals if you got some brains and a heart you will just love this ending.

By all means,any chance you get, watch this gem that never was. A fabulous, fabulous movie, you 'll remember me in the end and thank me for suggesting it, forget the morons, trust me. FIND IT, WATCH IT!

across the street, nothing new

[dbdumonteil · 2/10 · 14 April 2006]

The outset of this would-be creepy thriller starts under auspicious skies. A poor couple, Jean (Jean-Hugues Anglade) who is a writer, Michelle (Clothilde Courau), a florist inherit as if by magic of an imposing hotel that their generous neighbor, Jean-Eudes Guillemet bequeathed them so long as they must keep the housekeeper Clémence (Christine Boisson). So, they happily settle down there and of course, this gift is too good to be true. Clémence is a shady housekeeper who seems to be infatuated to Jean. The latter while searching in the murky past of the one-time owner seems to find inspiration again and becomes increasingly ominous. The frail Michelle doesn't feel reassured in this eerie mansion, doesn't trust Clémence and things get dark when her boyfriend suspects her of having deceiving him with Guillemet...

The usual ingredients of the ominous house were unearthed again by the scriptwriter Valérie Guignabodet and it's no-use enumerating them again. From them, the director Mathias Ledoux shrouds the mansion and his film of an unsettling aura and that's all. It's well known that if the movie isn't solidly structured with a stringent, painstaking scenario and if the director lazily taps again corny directing tricks for a topic like this one, this disquieting aura may bore the average viewer and make him take to one's heels. It is sadly the case here. What doesn't redeem the minor asset I quoted earlier is that Valérie Guignabodet unlike Jean in the film seems to have faced a block to pen her script. There are snatches of "Pacific Heights" (1990), "Rebecca" (1940) and even "the Shining" (1980) and some filler to try to stretch the movie just to make a one hour and a half film. Thus, the film fills its quota of sex. There is also a deep mystery in the story but sadly several plot holes aren't filled in a satisfying way. The whole even appears desultory and is often given a couldn't-care-less treatment by the director whom the degree of implication, here is minimal. He seems to have left the building (you said it!) as soon as his two unfortunate heroes settle in their new housing. This weak degree of implication is confirmed by annoying fade-outs. They often close sequences which are with difficulty dovetailed.

And the end is baffling and frustrating. It seems that the authors wanted to insert an unexpected twist because "c'est à la mode" and to show off people but it seems so far-fetched that it makes the story null. Worse, in the final sequences when José Garcia watches the video, the sound is so execrable that it is virtually impossible to catch what the two characters say to each other. Anyway, the last five minutes ruin the whole venture by an incessant flashy editing which is unsatisfying because it doesn't quite clarify the story in its entirety. Maybe the director opted for this irritating scheme to conceal the fact that this unexpected twist was perhaps void and if so, he doesn't show respect for the audience and the viewer leaves the projection with his unanswered questions.

Jean Hugues Anglade and Clothilde Courau do what they can to try to save something from the wreckage, their efforts are vain. I don't know what has become of the director after this vehicle and as for Valérie Guignabodet, she was to have a stab at directing for her quirky "Monique" two years later with rather gratifying results this time.

Voyeur's Delight

[Nodriesrespect · 8/10 · 26 February 2005]

This clever as well as surprisingly sexy French thriller was a complete unknown to me when I found it staring at me from the second hand DVD shelves. Well, actually it was the view of scrumptious Clotilde Courau's panty-clad backside that caught my initial attention, but I digress… Taking a chance, I took it home, er, the movie not Ms. Courau's posterior, that is.

Suffering from writer's block, struggling author Jean (Jean-Hugues Anglade) finds his financial problems swept away when his elderly, invalid across the street neighbor Jean-Eudes Guillemet (unseen but voiced by veteran actor Jean Dessailly) dies from a heart attack and leaves his vast estate to him and his pretty wife Michelle (Corau), apparently to spite his less than cherished relatives. The only conditions are that they leave his personal belongings untouched and that they keep on his doting housekeeper Clémence (Christine Boisson). Jean finds the whole bizarre situation most stimulating and starts piecing together Guillemet's past history from the papers found in his desk, leading to many a disconcerting revelation such as when he comes across a stack of photos of his scantily attired spouse…

As it turns out, this is an atmospheric little suspense flick, liberally borrowing from any number of established sources (REBECCA, PACIFIC HEIGHTS and BODY DOUBLE to name but a few of the more obvious influences), with good to great acting from all involved. Especially noteworthy is lovely aforementioned Corau, whose future as a screen actress seems uncertain now that she's married into royalty but who at least leaves us with a lengthy look at her undraped form to remember her by. Apart from the nudity, she projects an appealing vulnerability that may conceal something altogether darker. There's also really good chemistry between her and leading man Anglade and you find yourself rooting for this couple to make it through all the obstacles various adversaries throw at them for motives only revealed in the final act.

Screen veteran Boisson (whose career started back in 1975 with FLIC STORY) makes something quite special out of the seemingly stock character of the shady housekeeper, constantly hovering between accomplice and enemy to Jean and Michelle, and fairly surprisingly at this late stage in both life and career has several lingering nude scenes as well. Rest assured that these were anything but a mistake. Talk about aging gracefully. Ay caramba !

But the real star of the piece is definitely the screenplay, attributed to one Valérie Guignabodet (I'll admit, your guess is as good as mine…), which flings one surprise after another at the unsuspecting viewer right down to the ambiguous ending which sheds new light on all that has preceded. If you happen to be watching on French DVD (it comes with English subs so there's no excuse) there's the included bonus of the incriminating photos and videotape only snippets of which turn up in the actual film to clarify the mystery even further.

Not a great thriller or art movie but worth a watch as both

[bob the moo · 23 July 2002]

A young couple find themselves left a large town house across the street by the old man who lived there. The only catch is that the current housemaid must be kept on for as long as she wants. However once their in the house not only is the housemaid clearly unhappy about the will but other facts from both Jean and Michelle's past come out.

I wasn't sure what this film was going to be about. It was passed to me as some sort of examination of love and lust etc and, suspecting a dull pretentious French art film I put it to the bottom of my list. I have now reached the bottom of my list and have watched it! It become clear that the billing was slightly off and this gradually turned into a sort of `Single White Female' / `Pacific Heights' hybrid with the couple being terrorised by the maid. This situation became a lot more evident when the couple begin to change towards one another by the facts they uncover about each other.

This makes for a standard thriller setting but the direction, the subtitles and the score all allude to give it a arty feel that it doesn't warrant. However towards the end the story begins to spin in a clever way – you won't be able to guess the end like with the US thrillers I just mentioned. However the actual end of the film (last 5 minutes) is a little bit arty and is both open-ended and an observation/comment on the nature of love etc. This is where the art bit comes in and many may find this a poor end to a thriller (of sorts) however I found the end to be refreshing after what had really been a `by the numbers' thriller for the most part.

The cast were all good but I found the overuse of nudity to be wasteful of their talents and they seemed to overplay at times (especially Anglade). Boisson was good but she had the standard `creepy housemaid' role and just had to do that.

Overall this not a great thriller or a great art movie but it manages to be OK in both categories and is well worth a watch if you get the chance.