Boulevard des assassins (1982)
Directed by Boramy Tioulong

Film Review

If Cambodian-born film director Boramy Tioulong had intended Boulevard des assassins to be a serious crime thriller he was either misguided or simply out of his depth. The implausible plot and too-self-conscious-by-half mise-en-scéne help to make it resemble a lame parody of the neo-polar kind of thriller that enjoyed some popularity in France in the late 1970s, early '80s (the best example being probably Yves Boisset's Le Juge Fayard dit Le Shériff (1977)).

The reasons for not taking the film seriously are too numerous to mention, but it's worth mentioning a few. The rambling narrative which goes to great lengths to confuse the spectator before revealing a staggeringly unsurprising conclusion.  The catchy but increasingly nauseating background score which remains persistently lodged in your head for days after having watching the film, and which manages to evoke the very essence of 1970s French cinema, to almost nightmarish proportions. The excessive use of voice-over narration to explain, reiterate, and generally muddle the plot - a device that should have been buried in the 1960s.  Add to that a list of characters all of whom are blatant stereotypes, and most of whom are portrayed with mild disinterest by the cast, and you begin to wonder what Tioulong was attempting to achieve.

In spite of all this, many viewers will take pleasure in watching this film, particularly those with some familiarity with French cinema of the 1970s.  It is not so bad that it is unwatchable but it is easy to write it off as a lacklustre made-for-television movie (not surprising, since it is the only full-length cinema film made by Tioulong who was primary a TV film director).  Notable actors Jean-Louis Trintignant and Marie-France Pisier give good entertainment value and, on the plus side, the cinematography does at least make fair use of the South of France location.

Film Synopsis

50-year-old writer Daniel Salmon is in desperate need of a break when his latest novel fails to sell. Coming in the wake of his messy divorce, this set-back has badly shaken Salmon's confidence and he needs to get away for a few weeks. With his publisher's blessings, he takes a working holiday in a town on the French Riviera.  Almost as soon as he sets foot in the town the writer can't help thinking that there is something fishy going on.  Intrigued by the disappearance of the girlfriend of the man whose flat he is staying in, and by the mysterious death of an elderly woman who refused to sell her land to a development company, Daniel decides to investigate...