Le Couperet (The Ax)
A little over a year ago I met someone (when I saw Milos Forman in person) that raved about Le Couperet (he used its English title The Ax). He said that he saw it a the Tribeca Film Festival and that as far as he knew the film wasn't released in the US. Well, guess what - the film still isn't released in the US. But if you have Time Warner cable you can go to their channel 500 (foreign films on demand) and rent this film for $5.00. It is really worth every cent.
The film is based on a novel by Donald Westlake (I now want to read the book). It follows Bruno Davert as he goes from an high powered executive with a paper company to an unhappy long term unemployed man. Bruno has been out of work for over two years. What is he to do? His wife Marlene (Karen Viard) got two part time jobs but they can barely make ends meet. And their two kids are upset because the cable television has been disconnected.
Bruno sees only one solution to his problem. He is determined to work for a particular company but first he must eliminate his competition. And how does he do that you may ask? Well, by murdering them. The film has some comic elements but it is really a tragedy. Because of corporate greed many people are losing their jobs and what they find afterwards may not come close to what they had.
In some ways the film reminded me of two other French films - Human Resources and Time Out. Two other films in that category are Britain's The Full Monty and Spain's Mondays in the Sun. Of course, the stories are not the same but all of these films have to do with people who are let go from their jobs. And this is a very serious problem all over the world.
I won't tell you what happens to Bruno or how he goes about his business. I don't want to spoil the suspense of the film. Two of the producers are Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. And that is not a surprise because their films also have a social conscience.
I hope that some US distributor will pick up this film and at least release it on DVD. The lack of interest makes me wonder what they are afraid of. In the meantime,
if you have Time Warner cable be sure to check out Le Couperet.
The film is based on a novel by Donald Westlake (I now want to read the book). It follows Bruno Davert as he goes from an high powered executive with a paper company to an unhappy long term unemployed man. Bruno has been out of work for over two years. What is he to do? His wife Marlene (Karen Viard) got two part time jobs but they can barely make ends meet. And their two kids are upset because the cable television has been disconnected.
Bruno sees only one solution to his problem. He is determined to work for a particular company but first he must eliminate his competition. And how does he do that you may ask? Well, by murdering them. The film has some comic elements but it is really a tragedy. Because of corporate greed many people are losing their jobs and what they find afterwards may not come close to what they had.
In some ways the film reminded me of two other French films - Human Resources and Time Out. Two other films in that category are Britain's The Full Monty and Spain's Mondays in the Sun. Of course, the stories are not the same but all of these films have to do with people who are let go from their jobs. And this is a very serious problem all over the world.
I won't tell you what happens to Bruno or how he goes about his business. I don't want to spoil the suspense of the film. Two of the producers are Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. And that is not a surprise because their films also have a social conscience.
I hope that some US distributor will pick up this film and at least release it on DVD. The lack of interest makes me wonder what they are afraid of. In the meantime,
if you have Time Warner cable be sure to check out Le Couperet.
posted by Film Fanatic | 7:08 PM
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