A Sight for Sore Eyes (2003) Inquiétudes (original title)

Director:

Gilles Bourdos

Writers:

Ruth Rendell (novel)
Michel Spinosa (scenario) ...
(more)

Release Date:

4 February 2004 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Plot Keywords:

Foreign Language Adaptation | Based On Novel

Cast

Grégoire Colin	...	Bruno Keller
Julie Ordon	...	Elise Gardet
Brigitte Catillon	...	Anne Gardet
Laurent Grévill	...	Richard Gardet
Etienne Chicot	...	L'oncle de Bruno
Frédéric Pierrot	...	David Lamblin
Mathieu Amalric	...	Le professeur d'arts plastiques
Carlo Brandt	...	Inspecteur de police
Hervé Briaux	...	Inspecteur de police
Bérangère Bonvoisin	...	Dominique Verdier
Bernard Bloch	...	Le père de Bruno
Kemar	...	Kamel
Charlie Nelson	...	Lakhdar
Antoine Mathieu	...	L'inspecteur PJ
Mathilde Blache	...	Elise enfant
François Fugagnoli	...	Bruno enfant
Lucrèce La Chenardière	...	Mère Bruno (as Lucrèce Lachenardière)
Laurent Olmedo	...	Inspecteur #1
Danièle Douet	...	Inspecteur#2
Aline Chaud	...	Noelle
Sophie Staub	...	Marion
Nicolas Moreilhon	...	Le secouriste
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Amandine Carmona	...	(uncredited)
Sarah Pratt	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Gilles Bourdos

Writing credits
Ruth Rendell		(novel "A Sight for Sore Eyes")
Michel Spinosa		(scenario) and
Gilles Bourdos		(scenario)

Produced by
Ève Machuel	....	producer
Christophe Rossignon	....	producer

Original Music by
Alexandre Desplat

Cinematography by
Ping Bin Lee		(as Mark Lee)

Film Editing by
Valérie Deseine

Casting by
Richard Rousseau

Production Design by
Benoît Barouh

Costume Design by
Pierre Canitrot

Makeup Department
Alexis Kinebanyan	....	special makeup effects artist
Olivier Seyfrid	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Antoine Beau	....	production manager
Thibaud Garron	....	assistant unit manager
Bruno Ghariani	....	unit manager
Marianne Lambert	....	unit production manager
Philippe Rey	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Alexis Charrier	....	second assistant director
Marie Doller	....	third assistant director
Christophe Marillier	....	first assistant director
Sébastien Deux	....	first assistant director: preproduction (uncredited)

Art Department
Christophe Couzon	....	second assistant decorator
Roberto DiCamillo	....	buyer
Frederic Stanley	....	illustrator
Dévi Tirouvanziam	....	assistant art director
Olivier Colat-Parros	....	sculptor: animals (uncredited)

Sound Department
Valérie Deloof	....	sound editor
Marc Doisne	....	adr engineer
Marc Doisne	....	foley engineer
Marc Doisne	....	sound re-recording mixer
Eric Grattepain	....	foley artist
Cyril Holtz	....	sound re-recording mixer
Pascal Jasmes	....	boom operator
Isabelle Manquillet	....	dialogue editor
Pierre Mertens	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Boris Abaza	....	additional first assistant camera
David Frak-Lauer	....	assistant camera
Sofia Olstorpe	....	assistant camera
Morvan Omnes	....	grip

Casting Department
Laure Cochener	....	casting: children
Samia Fadli	....	extras casting

Editorial Department
Aurélie Laumont	....	color timer
Isabelle Manquillet	....	second editor

Music Department
Edouard Dubois	....	music consultant

Other crew
Jessica Castex	....	essential collaboration
Charlotte Corrigan	....	production assistant
Stéphane Célérier	....	essential collaboration
Marielle Duigou	....	production assistant
Thibaud Garron	....	assistant location manager
Tran Anh Hung	....	essential collaboration
Sylvie Koechlin	....	script supervisor
Vincent Maraval	....	essential collaboration
Michèle Massé	....	location scout
Carmen Portelli	....	essential collaboration
Matthieu Rubin	....	assistant location manager

Production Companies

• Nord-Ouest Productions
• StudioCanal (co-production)
• France 2 Cinéma (co-production)
• Canal+ (participation)
• Natexis Banques Populaires Images 3 (participation)
• Exception Wild Bunch

Distributors

• Mars Distribution
• Millennium Storm (2005) (Italy) (video)

Also Known As:

"Inquiétudes" - France (original title)

Runtime:

France:137 min | USA:137 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

France:-12 | Portugal:M/16

Company:

Nord-Ouest Productions

A chilling slow-paced thriller

I start with what bothers me most: it is maybe a bit too long and a bit too slow at times. Having said this, I think that director Gilles Bourdos did a very good adaptation of Ruth Rendell's crime novel, "A sight for sore eyes". Now, this is not a typical crime story/thriller, and I can understand that the plot could be confusing during the first 30 minutes to some people. But if you don't give up, you'll be rewarded. The plot, set in Southern France, is as follows: the central character, Elise (played by charming Julie Ordon), witnessed as a child her mother being shot dead by a man in her house. Her father has married afterwards Anne (Brigitte Catillon), a psychotherapist whose excessive zeal was transferred to Elise, a disturbed child in her eyes, who needs to be protected from the outside world. Enters Bruno Keller (played by chilling Grégoire Colin), a young student in modern art who grew up in an emotionally cold household, raised by an uncle who doesn't care much about him. The truth is that Bruno is a murderer who got rid of this uncle... and is to commit murder again before much more time has passed. Bruno and Elise find eventually each other, Bruno being gradually obsessed with Elise's beauty, Elise seeing Bruno as a sort of knight in shining armor, someone to rescue her from the clutches of her over-protective stepmother. Such a combination of traumatized and/or obsessive characters can only lead to disaster... Bourdos has favored a cold approach of the characters. We are never guided into one character's world, we only see things happening and their consequences. The result is a very chilling, unemotional movie, though artistically filmed. The acting is good, especially Brigitte Catillon who delivers an incredible performance as the suffocating alcoholic stepmother (you just want her to die). The cinematography is above average, and composer Alexandre Desplat has written a fine score. All this contributes to make a very unusual thriller, where psychology and atmosphere matter most. The best thing about it is that you never know how the story will eventually end (unless you've read the original novel).