Spotlight

Spotlight Date: 7-June-09
Spoiler Rating: High

Monsieur Hire (1990*)

Monsieur Hire is a French psychological thriller which seems to draw inspiration from M, Rear Window, and cynical periods in the writers' lives. The titular character (Michel Blanc) is a middle-aged tailor who becomes an instant suspect after a woman's corpse is found near his apartment complex. Even as a detective (André Wilms) begins to dog his steps, Monsieur Hire pursues a daily routine which includes many hours spying on a female neighbor (Sandrine Bonnaire) through a window. He is certainly creepy. But does that mean he is a killer?

When Monsieur Hire is introduced in his crisp black suit, disposing of a dead mouse under the cloud of a horrible crime, he appears to possess an aura of sinister power. Yet as the movie progresses it becomes a study of his twofold vulnerability. The main reason the police are interested in him is because he is a recluse, the kind of guy who keeps to himself and does not smile and thereby gains a reputation for being shady. He is put in a precarious position by his neighbors because of the temperament and experiences that led him to a life of isolation. If you think about it that way, you can understand his anger at the police and members of his community.

Then there is the precarious state of his own emotions. He has been living off the meager sense of connection obtained from prostitutes and the sight of the pretty stranger across the way. One fateful, stormy night she notices him for the first time. To his (and our) surprise she encourages his obsession, eventually going to his apartment to meet him face-to-face. She allows him to court her, to touch her, to open his cramped little soul to her despite, or possibly because of, her caddish fiancé. (A country girl in the big city, she might well find a ne'er-do-well exciting and a besotted older man comforting.) With his fantasy coming true beyond all hope, what protection does Monsieur Hire have against callousness or cruelty? Loneliness has made him myopic and dampened his instinct of self-preservation. His appearance at the end of the film is thus entirely different than it was at the beginning. The wonder in his story does not concern whodunit, but how such sadness exists in society, unnoticed or misunderstood.

*U.S. release date with English subtitles.

Copyright © 2009 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.