Claude Lelouch's thriller Roman de Gare (aka Crossed Tracks) features a number of characters and a timeline that skips back and forth, keeping the audience guessing as to how these characters all relate to each other. Fanny Ardant plays a novelist named Judith whose famous works might have been ghost-written by a serial killer dubbed "The Magician" for his habit of performing acts of prestidigitation in front of his victims. Early in the film, the police quiz her about her relationship with the
criminal. Other characters include a hairdresser (Audrey Dana) who offers to give a ride to a stranger who may be the killer. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
Lelouch is now 71 years old, and I bet he's never had as much fun with a film. Roman de Gare threads plots and characters and twists together like a demented weaver.
Red herrings abound and audience frustration sets in. It's a pity because the film looks good and the Gilbert Becaud songs on the soundtrack are easy on the ear.
The thriller elements that become the crucial threads in the third act are a bit clunky and the resolution is not convincing, either dramatically or romantically, but the film is nonetheless an entertaining journey
The ever-appealing Fanny Ardant and the enigmatic, pug-faced character actor Dominique Pinon have many subtle delights up their sleeves, and newcomer Audrey Dana is a revelation.
... about the creation of fiction, the way we spin lies together into a simulacrum of life - if there's any philosophical point of view beyond that it's that every narrative is necessarily an abridgment of truth.
At the end of act one we discover the answers to many of the film's questions: is this guy a rapist on the run, a ghost writer, or a man abandoning his family? Structurally, this is awfully early to answer so many questions that have such import on the ensuing action. But the rest of the film does not disappoint.
Despite its structural flaws, it's still able to re-invent itself as it moves along. Exceptional performances by he of the interesting-looking face, Dominique Pinon, and Audrey Dana, who plays the emotionally damaged but still somehow indomitable Huguette, keep us caring about these characters no matter what story imprisons them.
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