Room of Death (2007)

Two unemployed computer technicians discover 2 million euros next to a dead body in a field of windmills.

Director:

Alfred Lot

Writers:

Alfred Lot, Franck Thilliez (novel)

Stars:

Mélanie Laurent, Éric Caravaca, Gilles Lellouche

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mélanie Laurent	...	Lucie Hennebelle
Éric Caravaca	...	Moreno / Pierre Norman
Gilles Lellouche	...	Sylvain
Jonathan Zaccaï	...	Vigo
Laurence Côte	...	Alex
Céline Sallette	...	Annabelle
Fanny Cottençon	...	La mère de Lucie
Nathalie Richard	...	Raphaelle
Jean-François Stévenin	...	Léon
Stéphane Jobert	...	Raviez
Antoine Oppenheim	...	Colin
Alexandre Carrière	...	Stan
Jean-Pierre Gos	...	Van Boost
Delphine Benattard	...	Nathalie (as Delphine Benattar)
Jacques Herlin	...	Marceau

Storyline

Two unemployed computer technicians discover 2 million euros next to a dead body in a field of windmills. The money that they find deepens their pre-existing dominator-dominated relationship. The next day, a young blind girl is found dead near the site of the discovery and it seems that the stolen money had been intended to pay her ransom. Another child is then kidnapped and the police carry out an investigation, in particular a young sergeant who is fascinated by the tragic event.

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Plot Keywords:

ransom | police | blind girl | female masturbation | policewoman | 

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Genres:

Crime | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Bac Films [France]

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

14 November 2007 (France)

Also Known As:

Room of Death

Filming Locations:

Boulogne-sur-Mer, Pas-de-Calais, France

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,120,993

Company Credits

Production Co:

Produire à Paris, Centre Régional des Ressources Audiovisuelles (CRRAV), CiBy 2000

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Cunar, the man killed by accident by Vigo and Sylvain at the beginning of the movie was played by Jacques Hinstin, the movie's executive producer.

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Soundtracks

Oblivious
Written by Nathaniel Méchaly and C. Walker

User Reviews

Weird, dark, not entirely cohesive

This is a strange one, a police procedural-type of story mixed with an almost Gothic, Hammer-esque sensibility. It mostly works, but the two strands don't entirely mesh. The police investigation aspect is the stronger. Melanie Laurent is an intuitive detective (with twin infants at home) investigating two kidnappings that may be related. The first has ended badly (not a spoiler, this is in the opening minutes of the film) due to a hit-and-run accident that killed a man trying to deliver a ransom. The accidental killers hide the body and take the money; how they react to this provides an ongoing subplot.

Once the identity of the kidnapper(s) is revealed, the film takes a detour into Gothic-y, almost Cronenberg territory. In addition, there are several flashbacks that hint at a dark past which informs Laurent's character. (I'm guessing that the novel this is based on fills in more detail about this; in the film it remains a bit vague.) The florid nature of the last 45 minutes sits uneasily with the mostly gripping procedural narrative up to that point. It's not a fatal flaw, but once we enter the world and mindset of the kidnapper(s) the film flirts with being too wiggy for its own good. However, the plotting and pacing are strong, the performances are good, the cinematography matches the dark and heightened tone of the story, and Melanie Laurent (if you ignore that at age 24, it's a stretch that she's already made detective) anchors it all as a believable and likable heroine. Plausibility is strained, but it's never boring.