Nocturne indien (1989)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Alain Corneau

Writers:

Alain Corneau (writer)
Louis Gardel (writer)

Release Date:

16 August 1989 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel

Awards:

4 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Jean-Hugues Anglade	...	Rossignol / Xavier
Clémentine Célarié	...	Christine
Otto Tausig	...	Peter Schlemihl
T.P. Jain	...	Le docteur
Iftekhar	...	Le professeur de théosophie
Dipti Dave	...	Vimla Sar
Ratna Bhooshan	...	La patronne de l'hôtel Khajurao
Tinku Parma	...	L'écolière
Vijay Kashyap	...	La réceptionniste de l'hôtel Mandovi (as Vijai Kashyap)
Jaspal Sandhu	...	Le chauffeur du bus
Ashok Banthia	...	Le chauffeur du taxi de l'hôpital (as Ashok Bantia)
Vijai Gautam	...	Le serveur de l'hôtel Mandovi
Arish Hamin	...	Le serveur de l'hôtel Aguada (as Harish Hamin)
Jitendra Singh
Timoti Fernandes	...	Père Pimentel

Runtime:

110 min | Argentina:112 min

Country:

France

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color (Fujicolor)

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Germany:12

Company:

AFC

stranger in a strange land

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Possible Spoilers...

Launched in France in August 1989 and highly praised by French critics, "Nocturne Indien" is a peak in Alain Corneau's work. On a topic which has been used a lot in cinema or in literature, the disappearance of someone (here a man named Rossignol is searching for one of his friends called Xavier), Alain Corneau made a slow but fascinating movie where he constantly holds the spectator spellbound by increasing his curiosity during all the movie.

The directing is of an impeccable quality: clear, rigorous and the director favors one device: the static shots. Due to this, you could expect to see a boring and listless movie. Well, not at all thanks to the richness of the dialogs that make the plot progress and especially thanks to a gorgeous photography that contributes in creating a weird and tightened atmosphere. "Nocturne indien" was (rightly) awarded by an Oscar in France in 1990 for the Best Photography.

On the other hand, Alain Corneau isn't only interested by the plot. He's also interested by the country where the action takes place: India. He makes us share his craze for this mesmerizing and mysterious country.

The movie also enjoys a performance of a high quality (beginning with Jean-Hugues Anglade, absolutely outstanding) that adds to the brilliant success of this movie. Moreover, you can consider it as an allegory of life. Finally, the end of the movie leaves the spectator in a state of uncertainty: what has become of Xavier? Is he dead? Is he alive? Is Rossignol Xavier? Or maybe did he appear in the movie....

No matter, I can only recommend you this great movie that will haunt you for a long time after you saw it.