Review: Tell No One (2006)

[tom elce]

Tell No One (2006)
4 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Tom Elce
Directed by Guillaume Canet
Cast: François Cluzet, Marie-Josée Croze, André Dussollier, Kristin
Scott-Thomas, Marina Hands, Nathalie Baye, Jean Rochefort, François
Berléand and Guillaume Canet
Rated: NR (MPAA), 15 (BBFC)
Showing in NY from this week onwards.

Eight years after his wife Margot (Marie-Josée Croze) was seemingly
murdered by a serial killer, pediatrician Alexandre Beck (François
Cluzet) still hasn't gotten over the events that led to her brutal
killing and portrayed him as the prime suspect. When two bodies are
discovered near the place of Margot's death, as well as photographs of
a badly beaten Margot also, the police reopen the case and Alexandre
again becomes the prime suspect. Having denied responsibility for
Margot's death, the serial killer laid claim only to eight, though the
incriminating evidence with regards to the specific mutilations on her
body suggested otherwise. Thus, Alexandre's world gets blown apart
when he receives an e-mail on his computer that shows an older, alive
Margot.

Where the plot goes after that shouldn't be given away in a review,
suffice it to say that more revelations build atop each other from
that point onwards, writer-director Gullaume Canet cannily juggling
the tone between wrenching heartbreak story, puzzle-piece mystery and
runaway thriller. Having not read the source novel it is exceedingly
difficult to make a comparison, easier instead to say that "Tell No
One" as a film understands that there are no easy answers, instead
provocatively asking questions that don't necessarily paint characters
in expected shades and question the difference between deception and
evasion. Each new revelation plays fair and adds welcome layers both
to the story and the people involved in, joyously free of the gimmicks
that too often pin down American efforts of some similarity.

The mood changes throughout the film, which isn't to say that it's
uneven. Canet goes through the emotional trauma that still grips
Alexandre years after his wife's murder, emphasized by an emo-tinged
pop soundtrack that accounts for actor François Cluzet's generally
sour appearance. Highlighted by a scene intercutting Alexandre and
Margot's marriage with that of her funeral casts each character
involved with them in different shades, asserting that the pain felt
by her loss isn't just Alexandre's to deal with. This explains many of
their individual actions as the story unravels, particularly that of
Margot's father, himself still haunted by having to identify his own
daughter's mutilated body. These scenes of emotion aren't alone,
coupling nicely with a later scene in which Alexandre receives another
significant e-mail and, for the first time in what one can only
suppose is eight years, smiles with genuine happiness. Further scenes
that allow Alexandre to react to his incrimination by the photographs
of Margot, too, do justice of conveying the man's desperation.

Visually, "Tell No One" is stunning, director Canet and
cinematographer Christophe Offenstein beautifully composing scenes
that linger in the memory afterwards. The effect of some is quiet awe
- a scene moments before Margot's murder between Alexandre and his
wife is gorgeously shot in the nighttime setting - and of others is
simply visceral - the aforementioned body identification carried out
by Margot's father. Other shots simply capture the story at that
particular moment in time, shots of Alexandre running in one prolonged
sequence emphatic on the street background, seeming to have the whole
city stretch out behind the running man.

As Alexandre, François Cluzet is brilliant, palpably conveying and
wholeheartedly selling every feeling that his character goes through
on-screen. His confusion at the discovery his wife might still be
alive; his anger at the idea he might have beaten her; his anguish at
her apparent murder; his desperation to solve the mystery of her
supposed death; and his unhidden joy at finding Margot might still be
alive all crashing into each other, conflicting with each other,
complimenting each other. Cluzet's role is an emotional wringer, and
he never puts a foot wrong. The same can basically be said of the
supporting cast, which includes a memorable Marie-Josée Croze as
Margot, Kristin Scott Thomas as Alexandre's lawyer Hélène Perkins and
Marina Hands as his sister Anne.

One of the most capably constructed thrillers to come around in a
while, "Tell No One" is a compelling, impossible to dismiss motion
picture to behold, every next development retaining the viewer's
interest and seemingly setting up for another to follow. If a few
minutes could have been chopped off a running time that clocks in at
just over two hours, it's worth mentioning that the film never feels
truly prolonged as it does seem slow-burn. Unlike with most thrillers
we get force-fed these days, it isn't reliant on inane twists and
anticipated red herrings but instead a more character-driven
narrative, winding up as a somewhat Hitchcockian mystery that could
especially be appreciated by anyone who has lost a partner (whatever
the cause).

"Tell No One," for all its unimaginable story complications, feels
like the sort of thriller that plays fair with its viewer, standing on
the same level as them and not condescending, instead allowing the
audience to try and piece the puzzle together along with it, all while
hitting an emotional chord, too.