Dominik Moll directs this black comedy about a family outing gone to hell. The film opens with Michel (Laurent Lucas) and Claire (Mathilde Seigner) on the edge of a nervous breakdown in a cramped hot car with three screaming children. At a roadside rest stop, Michel meets Harry (Sergi Lopez) who, after some encouragement, recalls that they went to high school together. Harry and his girlfriend Plum (Sophie Guillemin) weasel their way into Michel and Claire's life, and soon the two are following
the haggard family to their tumbledown summer cottage. Though he seems friendly enough, Michel and Claire start to notice that something is not quite right with their newfound friend -- he recites from memory a poem Michel wrote 20 years ago, he suddenly buys them an expensive new Jeep when their old car dies, and he has a tendency to kill people who get on his nerves. This film was screened in competition at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
Add "who needs family?," and that's a good indication of how "Harry" dives into - but doesn't easily resolve - a strangely symbiotic muse relationship. Evil can be just as banal as everyday life, an idea explored with nasty wit and not brutish violence.
Like the best of Hitchcock, Harry captures the lyrical ambiguity of 'normal evil,' the actions we're all capable of committing in the name of a just quest.
A french thriller that takes a number of cues from Hitchcock. A man encounters another man and his family, claiming to be an old school friend of his. Hoping to rekindle the friendship, they share some time together. He seems like a nice man, but something lies beneath the surface. It's a good movie that builds its
tension slowly.
Fascinating study of a man whose obsession with a former schoolmate is disguised as an overabundant willingness to "help". We are never quite sure what fuels this dark psychosis, but we know things aren't right almost from the beginning. The tension quietly builds to a violent climax and leaves the intended victim
victorious. The action takes place mainly at the young couple's country chateau. The scenery is pretty, but somewhat nondescript. The script is subtle and drops clues but never fully reveals its destination until the very end. There is a sexual tension that hangs heavily over the story, but it is never blatant or explicitly brought out into the open. Just a general unease in Marcel (Laurent Lucas) and Claire (Mathilde Segnier) triggered by the presence of Harry (Sergi Lopez) and his earthy girlfriend, Prune (translated as Plum, and played by Sophie Guillemin). Well done effort by director Dominik Moll and one that kept this viewer intrigued for nearly two hours.
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