L'Horloger de Saint-Paul (1974)
Directed by Bertrand Tavernier

Film Review

For his first full-length film, Bertrand Tavernier took his inspiration from a novel entitled “L'Horloger d'Everton”, written by the popular Belgian writer Georges Simenon.   Although the novel was set in a provincial town in the United States, Tavernier realised that it could easily be transposed to his home town of Lyons in south-east France.  He wrote the script with the support of Jean Aurenche and Pierre Bost, two screenwriters who were very prolific in the 1940s and 1950s, but who were pilloried by the New Wave directors of the 1960s.  Tavernier collaborated with Aurenche and Bost on several of his subsequent films and would later make a film about Aurenche's war time experiences Laissez-passer (2002)

For his leading man, Tavernier was certain from the outset that Philippe Noiret should take the part.  Noiret had appeared in films since the 1950s, usually in supporting roles, and had yet to achieve genuine stardom.  This and subsequent collaborations with Tavernier would help to establish him as one of France's leading actors and something of a national institution.  When François Perrier turned down the part of Inspector Guilboud, Tavernier approached Jean Rochefort (allegedly giving him just one hour to read the script and decide whether he wanted the part or not).  Rochefort accepted and, as it turns out, his pairing with Noiret proved to be a stroke of genius.  Both men would play very similar characters in the film (solitary individuals, both stuck in a professional rut, each with domestic problems) but having very different outlooks on life (Noiret is contented, Rochefort cynical and slightly bitter).  It is the developing relationship between these two characters which provides the main focus for the film.  This device also cleverly allows us to get under the skin of the watchmaker, magnificently portrayed by Noiret in one of his most introspective and moving performances.

From the start, Tavernier wanted the film to be set entirely in Lyons and to show as much of his beloved hometown as he could.  He turned down a lucrative offer from his producer to shoot the interiors in Paris and imposed a disciplined schedule to ensure the location filming was completed as planned.  To that end, he was well-served by cinematographer Pierre-William Glenn, whose beautiful camerawork presents an affectionate, slightly romanticised view of the French city, but which gives the film a sombre, typically Simonon-esque mood.

Whilst L'Horloger de Saint-Paul is primarily about the relationship between a father and his son, Tavernier skilfully manages to bring in wider political concerns.  Influenced by the events of May 1968, the writer/director presages the increasing mood of disillusionment of the French people with mainstream political parties and the traditional institutions which would become more apparent towards the end of the decade.  The film is in some respects an early version of the neo-polar, the kind of crime drama which became more noticeable in France in the late 1970s and early 1980s, in which the establishment (represented by the police and the legal system) were deemed to be more of a problem for society than the criminals they dealt with.

L'Horloger de Saint-Paul was both a commercial and critical success for Tavernier.  It won him the prestigious Silver Bear award at the Berlin film festival in 1974 and the Prix Louis-Delluc in 1973.  Tavernier could not have hoped for a better start in his film-making career, and within a decade, after a number of internationally acclaimed successes, he would become widely regarded as one of the most respected and talented directors of his generation.

Film Synopsis

In the Saint-Paul district of Lyons, a middle-aged watchmaker, Michel Descombes, leads a peaceful and contented bachelor existence.  He lives with his teenage son, Bernard, whom he brought up alone after his wife walked out on him many years ago.  Michel's well-ordered life suddenly falls apart when, one day, he receives an unexpected visit from the police.  He is informed that his son has killed a night watchman at a factory, before going on the run with a young woman.  As the police track his son, Michel struggles to come to terms with the terrible news and realises that he knew far less about his son than he thought...