La sirène rouge (2002)

Nearly 13, Alice rebels, telling the Paris police that her mother is a murderer. Alice has no evidence; her mother, Eva, rich and powerful, avoids charges. Alice promptly runs away, ... See full summary »

Director:

Olivier Megaton

Writers:

Alain Berliner, Robert Conrath,

Stars:

Jean-Marc Barr, Asia Argento, Frances Barber

Cast

Credited cast:
Jean-Marc Barr	...	Hugo Cornelius Toorop
Asia Argento	...	Anita
Frances Barber	...	Eva
Andrew Tiernan	...	Koesler
Alexandra Negrão	...	Alice
Edouard Montoute	...	Oliveira
Vernon Dobtcheff	...	Vitali
Johan Leysen	...	Travis
Jean-Christophe Bouvet	...	Lucas
Carlo Brandt	...	Vondt
François Levantal	...	Sorvan
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dominique Bettenfeld	...	Mitja
Antonio Calpi
João Pedro Cary	...	Child
Celia Charpentier

Storyline

Nearly 13, Alice rebels, telling the Paris police that her mother is a murderer. Alice has no evidence; her mother, Eva, rich and powerful, avoids charges. Alice promptly runs away, determined to find her dad whom she claims lives in Portugal. The police believe he is dead and that Alice is in denial. Nonetheless, they dispatch Anita, an Italian police officer on loan to the French, to find Alice and bring her back. Meanwhile, Eva has launched her own paramilitary force to hunt for Alice, and Alice has found a protector in Hugo, an ex-soldier turned hit man and gang member. He promises to get her to her father. All roads lead to a small town on the Portuguese coast.

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Plot Keywords:

police | girl | mercenary | police station | nightmare | 

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Genres:

Crime | Thriller | Action

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and language

Details

Official Sites:

GP Group [ru] Official site [fr] (French)

Country:

France

Language:

French English Portuguese

Release Date:

21 August 2002 (France)

Also Known As:

The Red Siren

Filming Locations:

Carrasqueira, Portugal

Company Credits

Production Co:

Haut et Court, StudioCanal, France 2 Cinéma

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

When Alice fires her handgun (a semi-automatic) even tho shot in slow-motion, the slide doesn't move back. This is a simple identifiable function of this sort of weapon which is shot in slow-mo intentionally in many other films for it's dramatic effect. Instead, Alice jerks the weapon back as if it were fired, and the target is magically struck by a bullet that could not have come from Alice's gun.

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Quotes

Hugo: [first lines - sighting his rifle] Where'd that fourth guy disappear to?
Vitali: Take it easily Hugo.
Hugo: Christ Vitali. They're getting younger every day. I didn't come here to kill kids.
Vitali: If you don't, they won't spare *you*.
Hugo: What if that would suit me just fine. Really.
Vitali: Come on Hugo, they need us here.
Hugo: But they're just kids! What the fuck am I doing here Vitali?
Vitali: God only knows.
Hugo: God would never let things get this fucked up.
Vitali: Don't try to blame all mankind's fuck ups on God. Now you tell me why a young man ...
[...]

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Connections

Followed by Babylon A.D. (2008)

User Reviews

Thoughtful and Stylish

This bloody yet stylish European action thriller is well filmed and ambiguous enough to allow your imagination space for thought. Olivier Megaton direction is thoughtful and holds this interesting picture together. Jean-Marc Barr is good as the trained assassin who becomes the girl's protector. His acting inspires confidence and credibility to become Alice's (the girls) savior. Asia Argento who plays Anita a cynical Police Inspector who also needs to protect Alice. This seems to be at the core of this movie. Both Anita (Argento) and Hugo (Barr) need to protect this girl for personal reasons. Although the film does not elaborate on Anita's past you can sense her empathy seeing Alice as the girl within herself. Hugo on the other hand is a loner and has become jaded by his past experiences and through Alice he finds a reason to once again believe in his own goodness. - PCL