Série noire

The acclaimed French director Alain Corneau made a slightly parodic psychological drama, imbued with a gloomy atmosphere of moral decay and despair. Patrick Dewaere fascinatingly embodied the internally conflicted main (anti)hero. While Série Noire has several great performances, Patrick's is so riveting that it is simply unparalleled. This is certainly the role of his life. (85%) (01.07.2021)

The impressiveness of the film noir genre usually relies on the atmosphere, and Alain Corneau nailed it. The oppressive environment, full of neglect and decline, plays an equally important role as the characters, who are shaped by material deprivation and frustration. The film also has interesting casting, but if something brings it down, it is the annoyingly affected behavior of the characters portrayed by Patrick Dewaere and Marie Trintignant. One could say that the main protagonist is controlled by hysteria, but it feels more artificial and annoyingly pretentious, and I sense a theatrical mannerism in Dewaere's acting. The film deserves somewhere between three and four stars, but considering it's my favorite genre, I lean toward four. Overall impression: 70%. (09.06.2020)