Persecution (2009)

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

I was personally struck by this movie because I left the theaters wondering about the similarities between this movie and my life. Then I discovered that this movie must be about someone with paranoid schizophrenia. I had a brain injury and have developed some interesting delusions. The clues are all there: as those with e-r-o-t-o-mania imagine, there is somebody that stalks him and a "celebrity" that doesn't have time to interact much (i.e., nonexistent. The plot is about a man coming to terms with his personal conflicts and what they mean to him. There is a deeper meaning to the scenes of silent observation.

Patrice Chereau's latest film touches a lot of themes that evidently are dear to him. At the center of the story is Daniel, a man that is a a living contradiction, and who remains an enigma after all is said and done, because the viewer never finds a common trait of his in which to empathize with this strange man, even though he is the whole film.As the action begins, we get a glimpse of Daniel sitting in a crowded metro as a ragged panhandler goes through the car asking for money. No one seems to be moved by the woman's plight, much less give her a coin to get rid of her. As the beggar stands next to a young woman that looks up to the intruder with a smile, she responds with a slap on both her cheeks, something that leaves the people around them stunned. Daniel decides to find out what triggered the panhandler's reaction, but the young woman is not about to tell him anything.Daniel is a sort of remodeling contractor in to be a long distance relationship with Sonia, a thirtysomething woman that seems to talk to him more on the phone than in real time. When they see each other at a pub, they hardly show any tenderness for one another. To aggravate things, Daniel is surprised by a stalker that makes his way into the apartment he is working. Finding this intruder naked in bed, Daniel becomes furious when the man declares to be in love with him.Part of Daniel's problems might be related to his own family life. His father, now dead, had retired to a nursing home where he ended his days. Daniel decides to volunteer at one institution where we watch him tending to the needs of two of the residents, a painter and an old woman. Daniel surprises in the way he can be kind one moment and be dismissive of a friend, whom he disses at the pub to a crowd of friends. At the same time, Daniel is seen to go help the motorcyclist who suffers an accident right in front of his eyes, when no one intervenes.Patrice Chereau and Anne Marie Trividic's screenplay for this film wants to explore Daniel's soul and what makes him the contradiction he appears to be while searching for meaning in his own life. It is not an easy film to sit through, but it shows flashes of intelligence in the way one is never able to figure out people that have touched us. Mr. Chereau succeeds is in creating a complex character of Daniel, brilliantly acted by one of France's leading actors, Romain Duris.Whatever one's perception of the film, the acting of Mr. Duris alone is worth a look at this enigmatic man full of contradictions. Charlotte Gainsbourg appears as Sonia in a role that needed someone like her in order to make the character work. Ms. Gainbourg is an intelligent performer who gives a nuanced reading of Sonia, Daniel's girlfriend. Jean-Huges Anglade's stalker is perhaps one of the strangest addition to the picture. His motivations in zeroing on Daniel never comes to a head because Daniel shows repulsion to his advances. Others in the film in supporting roles, the great Tsilla Chelton, who plays one of the people in the senior residence, Gilles Cohen, and Michel Duchaussoy, as the painter in the nursing home.The film has a dizzying rhythm helped by the camera work by Yves Cape that captures a Paris we do not see often in movies. Eric Neveux contributed to the film score. Like him, or not, Mr. Chereau remains a voice to be reckoned with in the French cinema.

"Persecution: active, systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another group or individual."After watching "Persecution", you might just wonder who is really persecuted: Daniel, the short-tempered main character, stalked by a stranger who claims he's in love with him, Sonia, Daniel's girlfriend with whom he argues frequently and can hardly connect, or simply the spectator. Watching a film like this is anything but a treat: unlikeable characters, stark settings, ugly photography, it is French "psychological" cinema at its worst. I don't have a problem with Chéreau, I understand he makes films for an adult and educated audience. Some of his daring choices (as in "Intimacy" for instance) are challenging but interesting, at the very least enough thought provoking to get something out of them. Unfortunately, "Persecution" is a pretentious and overblown piece of work, as if Chéreau gradually became more and more full of himself over the years to eventually forget one essential thing: the audience. "Gabrielle", released in 2005, was already a "stiff" and dry film, well played and well directed, yet haughty and cold. As Chéreau's works get more and more personal, spectators are more and more kept at a distance by the filmmaker. The problem is that films are made for an audience (even if it's not a broad one), not just for the pleasure of wasting money. When artists create works that not only have no appeal for most of the people, but also have seemingly no clear purpose, I believe they lose the sense of reality. I assume that is what happened to Patrice Chéreau, who has proved with other films that he is more than an able director. I don't mind watching a film where the main character is complex, obsessive and quite unlikeable (remember "Naked" directed by Mike Leigh). I don't mind watching wordy films (I've had my share of Woody Allen's and Eric Rohmer's flicks). But I resent films where I am left out, where the story has nothing to catch my attention. Romain Duris (who plays Daniel) is as convincing as a home renovator as Gérard Depardieu as a nun but is very good at getting on everyone's nerves, including the spectators', Charlotte Gainsbourg as the aloof girlfriend is remarkably dull, Jean-Hugues Anglade's intriguing character is sacrificed, secondary characters are not fleshed out as they should have been (poor Hiam Abbass has only a few lines to say). Even what would have been interesting leads were given up by Chéreau (for instance, we never know whether the stalker's character is a figment of Daniel's imagination or not, and that could have added an uncanny touch to "Persecution"). At its worst, the film is extremely repetitive when things begin quickly to stall. In spite of a good opening scene, I couldn't care less about what was going to happen to any of the characters. In other words, I never felt that "Persecution" was a movie really worth my time.

This a puzzling piece of film making by a respected french film/theatre director. Patrice Chereau occasionally strikes a perfect balance in between story telling and cinematic language : Queen Margot, those who love me can take the train and l'homme blesse. Yet here, there is a conflict of interest that makes uncomfortable viewing. In my opinion, this is the kind of film that only actors can appreciate. Patrice Chereau tackles what I think is his recurring theme in this : damaged rejection and it's not done very well. Despite top class acting by the 3 main leads, we are expected to care for the character played by Romain Duris who is right down detestable and isn't able to decide how he loves Charlotte Gainsbourg. (her voice and vulnerability is really something here) The 2 actors are clearly comfortable being filmed arguing and or making love in a very crude manner. The lighting of the sex scenes (and in fact the whole film) made me feel like I was peeping on them. Then, appears with very little explanation, the character played by Jean Hugue Anglade. His character is referred to as "le barjo -french slang for nutter-". He is in love with Romain Duris and will go to any length to make his feelings known.Great idea for a synopsis and what really made me want to watch this film, but not well executed. Now i am not suggesting by any means that the treatment would have been more convincing if given the Hollywood make over IE cheap effective thriller a la "fatal attraction" but I felt cheated as I was never given a chance to appreciate a great idea. Why is J Hugue Anglade in love with Romain Duris is well, anyone's guess. He is suppose represent the persecution and a threat but I really liked him in fact, he can come and wait naked for me here anytime! I think Patrice Cherau was trying to trick the viewer and at the end, the persecution comes from Romain Duris's character himself. It didn't work, even the scenes during which Romainn Duris redeems his unhappiness by caring for elderly people in a hospital are boring. the film feels disjointed and I had the impression that Patrice Chereau had a few well worded one liners about human relationships in mind and desperately tried to put them in some scenes, especially when Romain Duris and Charlotte Gainsbourg argue, which they do a lot. I could not stop thinking of the 3 actors and Patrice Chereau having a conversation on set about trust, real acting and how great is it for the 4 of them to tackle such risky film-making. Yet I felt strangely left out, uninvolved... Shame as I so wanted to see this...i was just kept out.