The Lost Son
|
Hollywood Inside While Los Angeles was the back drop for its
seediest and most corrupt era, the early 1950's in L.A. Confidential, London
will be the backdrop for a dark noir-ish thriller that begins filming in Blighty this
week with a cast led by French star Daniel Auteuil, Nastassa Kinski. Billie
Whitelaw, that great actress of so many British phlics. London will play a
pivotal role in The Lost Son in which Auteuil plays a private detective looking
for Whitelaw's son of the title. As he moves around the city uncovering a murky
complex web involving murder and child abuse, he meets people who may or
may not have known the lost son. It will have the appearance of an early
Hitchcock, or so we are told by those who are working on the production. Shadows on the Wall
One of France's biggest stars, Daniel Auteuil crosses the Channel to play the lead role in the
English-language thriller The Lost Son.
Reviews & Reports from Europe:
One of the darkest, most effectively disturbing thrillers in recent
memory, The Lost Son, is both stunningly taut and powerfully moving as
it descends into one of the blackest corners of human existence. Daniel
Auteuil plays private investigator Xavier Lombard, a former Paris cop
who is hired to find Leon, a lost 20-year-old photographer who vanished
without a trace. As Lombard picks up his trail, he enters into a seedy
world and begins a complex journety that will have a terrible impact on
all around him. Auteuil is absolutely superb in the role, as is the
entire cast. Lombard's progress gives the film a strong centre that
never overwhelms the audience, thanks to Menges' excellent direction,
which picks up on tiny details in his character that add real insight
and warmth, avoiding predictability or sentimentality. With a gritty
visual feel and terrific performances, the film transcends the action
thriller genre to become an intimate look at how one man copes with a
horrific discovery and his tortured past." The cast also includes:
Katrin Cartlidge, Ciaran Hinds, Marianne Denicourt, Natassja Kinski.
Some London Reports:
by John Austin
by Rich ClineDirector: Chris Menges
Screeplay: Eric & Margaret LeClere, Mark Mills
with Daniel Auteuil, Katrin Cartlidge, Ciaran Hinds, Nastassja
Kinski, Marianne Denicourt, Bruce
Greenwood, Billie Whitelaw
FilmFour 98/UK-France
One of the darkest, most effectively disturbing thrillers in recent memory, 'The Lost Son' is both stunningly taut and powerfully moving as it descends into one of the blackest corners of human existence: paedophilia. With a gritty visual feel and terrific performances, the film transcends the action thriller genre to become an intimate look at how one man copes with a horrific discovery ... and his tortured past.
Daniel Auteuil is perhaps France's biggest star, and yet he's only barely broken through to non-Euro audiences (Jean de Florette, The Eighth Day, Les Voleurs). Here he plays private investigator Xavier Lombard, a former Paris cop who left home under suspicious circumstances and is hiding from his past in London. His friend Carlos (Hinds) has married Deborah Spitz (Kinski), and her wealthy family hires Lombard to find their lost son Leon, a 20-year-old photographer who vanished without a trace. As Lombard picks up his trail, he discovers a girlfriend (Cartlidge) no one knew about. He also discovers that Leon ran afoul of child prostitute dealers when he tried to rescue a young boy. With the help of his old friend Nathalie (Denicourt), who happens to be a call girl, Lombard enters into this seedy world and begins a complex journey that will have a terrible impact on all around him.
Lombard's progress gives the film a strong centre that never overwhelms the audience, thanks to Menges' excellent direction, which picks up on tiny details in his character that add real insight and warmth, yet avoids predictability or sentimentality. Auteuil is absolutely superb in the role, as is the entire cast. And the shadowy production design gives the film a feel that chills you to the bones, yet also draws you in with Lombard. If there's any flaw, it's in the film's second half, when the action drags a bit as Lombard's quest goes through turn after turn (yet some key links are missing from the story). But the film never loses its grip on the audience, and there is real force in what it has to say both about the issue at hand, and about the people at the centre of the drama.
[strong adult themes and violence, brief nudity] 19.Jun.98 (seen at an advance screening - no release details available.)