France, 2004
Director: Cedric Kahn
Score: ****

FEUX ROUGES (RED LIGHTS) has been described as an edge-of-the-seat thriller in the tradition of Claude Chabrol and Alfred Hitchcock. Though elements of suspense and anticipation are present, writer/director Cedric Kahn’s (L’ENNUI and ROBERTO SUCCO – two excellent films hardly seen in North America) latest offering, based on the novel by Georges Simenon, is actually the dramatic story of a married couple Antoine (Jean-Pierre Darroussin) and Helene (Carole Bouquet) on a road trip from Paris to the south. RED LIGHTS refer to the stops a couple or individual has to make in order to reach a desired destination. The film begins appropriately with overhead shots of buildings, a playground and other structures in Paris with people shown as miniscule unimportant objects in the background. Kahn then cuts to protagonist Antoine, centering his story on one of many human beings existing today.

FEUX ROUGES bears quite a resemblance in tone to Roberto Rossellini’s magical VIAGGIO IN ITALIA (VOYAGE TO ITALY) where bickering couple Ingrid Bergman and George Sanders renew their romantic tenderness in a film in which nothing happens. But quite a lot transpires in FEUX ROUGES. Kahn rolls the action as fast as the way Antoine drives on the highway. From the start, Antoine is to meet his wife at 5 p.m. for the drive to pick up their kids from summer camp. She is late. Agitated, he has a beer at the local bar waiting. This leads to more drinks.  On their drive, conversation and arguments hit the roof. Traffic is horrid. He keeps stopping for whiskeys.  During his last stop, Helene warns that she won’t be around if he takes another drink. When he returns to the car, she is gone, leaving a note that she has taken the train. This is just the beginning of a series of events that escalates to a certain madness that is believable enough.

Performances, particularly from Darroussin (also to be seen in A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT) are excellent. Both he and the beautiful Bouquet make the perfect dysfunctional pair. But it is basically Darroussin’s film as he capably draws the viewer into his troubles and despair. From the moment the trouble starts, from his observation of the photograph of his happy kids and his wife – his presence is noticeably missing – to his desperation at his inability to hunt down his wife, Darroussin captures the strength, vulnerability and anguish of his character.  The viewer wants to both despise and love him. Bouquet, in contrast, has little to say but look like a siren. She is blonde, beautiful and frail like the typical Hitchcock heroine… until she is finally pushed past her limit, resulting in her screaming with her hands up to her face. This scene is enough to rally the spectator to cheer for her for putting up with so much of her husband’s nonsense. 

But FEUX ROUGES is Kahn’s film. In L’ENNUI, Kahn traced again the troubles of a most unlikely couple – the stalking artist and his uninterested model. ROBERTO SUCCO is an intimate study of an Italian criminal on the run.  FEUX ROUGES blends both themes as there is a runaway convict on the loose (Vincent Deniard). Kahn’s ability to extract the most of his actors and the film’s varied pacing, from this actors shouting obscenities in one scene to soothing classical music heard in the next, work well. The film is also coupled with genuine bouts of suspense and wry humor. The necklace left behind in the car much later in the film indicates something nasty is amiss.  The necklace was not in the car when Antoine first found the wife’s note. As for humor, Antoine’s reminiscing of his family troubles to the hitch-hiker, though captivating enough to the viewer, results in his falling into a deep sleep.  The film’s best scene has Antoine make a series of telephone calls. Though this full 10-minute segment might appear tedious in writing, it is arguably the most crucial and exciting part of the film - quite a feat for both actor Darroussin and director Kahn.

I have viewed FEUX ROUGES twice – the first time in London in October. Kahn’s film still works marvelously, holding the viewer’s interest from start to finish on second viewing. FEUX ROUGES is not to be missed!

Review by Gilbert Seah.