Dir. Jacques Maillot, France, 2008, 106 mins, French with subtitles
Cast: Guillaume Canet, François Cluzet, Marie Denarnaud, Hélène Foubert
Review by Dave Hall
It’s exhilarating to see a French film set in tower blocks and supermarkets rather than around bourgeois dinner tables and country houses, but like the Renault 5 that burns rubber during an unlikely Super Mini car chase, this ‘70s-set cops n’ robbers character study isn’t quite as high powered as it would like to be.
What Rivals does have is two terrific central performances from Cluzet and Canet as Gabriel and Francois, brothers whose fractious relationship is intensified by the fact that Gabriel is a crook, and Francois a cop. Things aren’t quite as clear cut as that makes it sound: at the start of the film, Gabriel is newly released from prison and attempting to go straight, whilst Francois is to be found obsessively stalking a woman, who turns out to be the wife of someone he put behind bars. Gabriel’s stuttering attempts to go straight turn sour, as he finds himself increasingly tempted back to his old life. Meanwhile, Francois has to decide between fraternal loyalty and professional integrity. Both find that their past actions will come back to haunt them.
Maillot really knows how to write and direct scenes, and seems equally comfortable with the domestic (the families in the film are convincingly dysfunctional) and the always punchy action sequences, which include one wittily filmed assassination attempt that has a great visual punchline. It’s very well acted, especially by Cluzet as the shambling, clownish-but-charismatic Gabriel, who convincingly flares into rage at the drop of a Gauloise (anyone nostalgic for the heyday of smoking can get their kicks here: barely a scene goes by without someone lighting up). And the ’70s setting makes it more elegiac than perhaps it would have been as a contemporary film.
But overall, Rivals is a little too episodic, and lacks deep enough undercurrents to carry much dramatic tension. As the back-story is gradually revealed, it becomes clear that the lives of each brother has always been defined by the other; criminal versus cop, gregarious versus thoughtful, both absentee fathers with broken marriages behind them. What is less successfully conveyed is how their relationship shapes their respective fates; the film is set up to reflect parallel lives inextricably linked, but in the film’s more conventional later stages the newly estranged brothers seem like two individuals with barely any connection at all. As a result, the climax feels contrived, even a little rushed, and has no real resonance.
The film is probably not helped by the unmistakable echoes of grander works: Goodfellas, Heat, even The Godfather might come to mind at various stages, though whether Maillot is being ironic or simply derivative is unclear. There’s plenty to enjoy though, not least the low-tech details of ’70s life, including Cluzet’s supersized hair, which is as much of a loose cannon as he is. Well acted and meticulously directed, Rivals is a satisfying crime yarn, which hints at but can’t quite connect with, bigger themes.
|
