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CHARACTER

Today, we saw Bertrand Tavernier's first film

L'Horloger de Saint-Paul / The Clockmaker (1974).

It stars Philippe Noiret who I have enjoyed in many many roles. Everyman is his specialty. He is the Clockmaker; wonderful to see.

A father learns that his son has committed murder. There is no doubt about it. From this point we may think that we are going to see the unravelling of a mystery, the solution to a crime misunderstood, false accusations. But no. The deed was done. The son did it and is unrepentant.

The story is about character. The characters in the story and the matter of having character. The pace is slow. We get to know observe the human landscape.

The father indirectly gets to know his son, then directly. The father develops a friendship with the inspector who is working on the case. The father's friends come in and out of the story. Politics are involved but are really a distraction; an intensifier of the son's predicament.

Making peace with one's self and the reality of a situation is more to the point. The careful working of this film, based on a George Simenon novel, is wonderful to see and quite emotionally engaging.

I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5. It could creep up to a five if the impact on me lingers. I will see how the characters continue to play their lives out in my head. This is always the mark of a fine film;one that works on me inside.

You will enjoy this film, I think. You may not like the circumstances but you will like the people a lot.

Updated 061305