‘Death is a strange thing. When people die of illness, it’s cruel and unfair, but it’s really death. When it’s crime or a killing, death becomes abstract, as if the solution to the mystery had priority.’
A man went for hunting and we see
him shot pointblank on head. Naturally the prime suspect for the police is
another hunter who also went there and left his fingerprints while closing the
door of victim’s car before leaving the scene of crime. Turning back to his
estate office, the man soon received by investigation of police. Surprisingly a
mysterious phone call of a lady keeps threatening the man that she knew it’s he
who murdered the man as his wife is having an affair with the murdered man. And
as man trying to clear his suspect entry with aid of his lawyer, we witness the
second murder. This time it’s his wife and now he’s in serious trouble. He has
one fellow to rely; his young secretary. Claiming escaped from the town, the
suspect keeps hiding and the secretary starts investigation on her own. What
follows is complex web, not too easy to solve.
When you finished watching and
admiring Master Hitchcock’s almost everything, what offers a refreshing
surprise is how the man influenced generation of other directors through his
cinematic style ranging from early cinema of Brian De Palma, David Fincher, M.
Night Shyamalan and many more. In their heydays of French New Wave, Hitchcock
was one of those directors, the men of Cahiers took so seriously. And along with cinema of Chabrol, the
admiration and obsession of Francois Truffaut towards Hitchocock is beyond boundary.
In this fine homage offered to Master, starring Trintignant and Fanny Ardent, shot
in B&W noirish frames; the film is an absolutely intriguing and thrilling
mystery that didn’t miss a beat. One can see loads of brilliant mise en scene, distanced
and closed, enigmatic and voyeuristic shots influenced from Master’s craft. Considerably
the film is one of well made but under noticed Truffaut. And it certainly has enough
twists with gripping narration and fine pace with added attraction of superb B&W
camera work, reminding many of Hitchcock classics and Hollywood noirs.One of worth watching Truffaut indeed!
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