L'adversaire (2002)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Nicole Garcia

Writers:

Frédéric Bélier-Garcia (writer)
Emmanuel Carrère (novel)

Release Date:

28 August 2002 (France)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

When a man murders his wife, children and parents, the ensuing investigation reveals that he's been living a lie for almost 20 years. |

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Unemployment | Husband Wife Relationship | Paris | Imposter

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

Daniel Auteuil	...	Jean-Marc Faure
Géraldine Pailhas	...	Christine Faure
François Cluzet	...	Luc
Emmanuelle Devos	...	Marianne
Alice Fauvet	...	Alice
Martin Jobert	...	Vincent
Michel Cassagne	...	Le père de Jean-Marc
Joséphine Derenne	...	La mère de Jean-Marc
Anne Loiret	...	Cécile
Olivier Cruveiller	...	Jean-Jacques
Nadine Alari	...	La mère de Christine
Nicolas Abraham	...	Xavier
Bernard Fresson	...	Le père de Christine
François Berléand	...	Rémi
Muriel Amat

Also Known As:

El adversario (Spain)
The Adversary (International: English title)

Runtime:

129 min

Country:

France | Switzerland | Spain

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-15 | France:-12 | Sweden:15 | Brazil:14

Company:

Canal+

Trivia:

Based on a true story, that of Jean-Claude Romand, who on January 9, 1993, killed his wife, two children and both his parents.

Movie Connections:

Features "Orson & Olivia" (1995)

The life and the tragic end of a lyer and his family

This movie is adapted from a true story, the one of Jean-Claude Roman, a man who made his family and friends believe for 18 years that he was a searcher at the OAS when he didn't even had a job. For 18 long years, he had been crooking his parents and fooling his relations till he finally got discovered. He then killed his wife, children, mother and father. Revealing the end of this story won't bother the appreciation of this movie, since it's a well known news item in France that deeply moved the population in the 90's. As a matter of fact, the story is fascinating enough to make the script interesting and that is the main problem of the film. It relies almost essentially on the unbelievable destiny of Jean-Marc Faure and the performance of Daniel Auteuil, one the best French actors actors actually. His acting is sober and at some moments is approaching madness with convincing realism. But the staging and the whole ambiance remain cold and distant as if there was since the beginning a shift between Faure and the others. This creates an embarrassment that keep us from understanding him.

Anyway, it is worth seeing this movie, above all if you don't know the story yet. The only fact to know that this really happened makes you watch it with interest. Another movie was made upon this story, `L'emploi du temps' by Laurent Cantet.