European Films

Brothers Denis and Bruno Podalydès team up for a new cinematic version of the Leroux detective novel Le mystère de la chambre jaune (The Mystery of the Yellow Room). Denis directs Bruno as Joseph Rouletabille, a reporter for a local newspaper who investigates the attempted killing of Mathilde Stangerson (Sabine Azéma), who uses the yellow room of the title as her bedroom. At the time of the revolver shots her room was locked and the windows were barred, but when her father (Michael Lonsdale) enters after having forced the door, there is no-one there except for Mathilde. So who did it and how did he get away?

 

The filmmaking brothers have upgraded the dark Leroux story to a 1920s setting and often film outside in the bright sunlight of the French countryside, lending the story a more lightweight countenance than the original. This sense of atmosphere is important, because this is not the typical whodunit in which the audience should follow the happenings closely in order to pick up the clues, but rather a relatively enjoyable ride with some great character actors at work.

 

The outcome of the mystery itself relies on information which is revealed only in the film’s coda. Most of the humour derives from the fate of the clumsy photographer Sainclair (Jean-Noël Brouté, brilliant) who tries to aid his reporter chef Rouletabille to the best of his intentions. Technical credits are excellent, including its lush cinematography by Christophe Beaucarne. At two hours the film is perhaps a tad long, also because we are never really part of the investigation since its outcome does not rely on scanning for clues but on a deus ex machina, but it is nevertheless an enjoyable period showcase of some of France’s finest filmmaking talent.

 

Buy the film at: amazon.fr.

 

Browse for DVDs, soundtracks, books and more: amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.de, dvdGO.es, internetbookshop.it, nl.bol.com, allposters.com.