Monsieur Hire

Overview

Monsieur Hire (Michel Blanc) is an ageing, truculent loner who indulges in peeping-tomism. Hire worships a beautiful neighbor (Sandrine Bonnaire) from afar. He is vaguely aware that the girl is involved in a recent murder, but this is only a minor setback--after all, Hire himself has been suspected in a homicide case. "Who will do what to whom and when?" is the main question in this adaptation of the novel Les Fian?ailles de Monsieur Hire by Georges Simenon, that was previously filmed in 1946 as Panique.

Product Details

Release Date:	11/20/2007
UPC:	0738329055325
Original Release:	1989
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	Kino Lorber
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	1:19:00
Sales rank:	63,632

Special Features

An interview with Patrice Leconte; Original theatrical trailer; Stills gallery; Optional English subtitles; Enhanced for 16x9 TVs

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Michel Blanc	Monsieur Hire
Sandrine Bonnaire	Alice
Luc Thuillier	Emile
André Wilms	L'inspecteur de police
Philippe Dormoy	Actor
Marie Gaydu	Actor
Eric Bérenger	Actor
Bernard Soufflet	Actor
Michael Nyman	Composer

Technical Credits

Patrice Leconte

Patrick Dewolf

Philippe Carcassonne	Producer
Rene Cleitman	Producer
Patrice Leconte	Director,Screenwriter
Pierre Lenoir	Sound/Sound Designer
Dominique Hennequin	Sound Mixer
Patrick Dewolf	Screenwriter
Joëlle Hache	Casting

Editorial Reviews

Patrice Leconte's subtle, insinuating thriller becomes much more than it at first appears. What seems to be a psychological thriller about an obsessive-compulsive voyeur suspected of a young woman's murder turns into an exercise in existential angst similar to Albert Camus' classic Existentialist novel The Stranger. Like Camus' protagonist, M. Hire leads a life of deadening routine on the fringes of society, remains aloof from others, and is suspected of committing murder. Michel Blanc plays Hire's cool, non-verbal fastidiousness with just the right touch of quiet yearning. However, Leconte adds an intriguingly Hitchcockian element in the object of M. Hire's desire. Rather than feeling victimized by Hire's obsessive voyeurism, the woman (Sandrine Bonnaire) is seduced by it, becoming a watcher of the watcher. This twist provokes the audience to study the film's themes from at least two perspectives at all times. The film's silences are profound, and the camera fills the void by moving seamlessly from one perspective to another, layering image upon image and forcing the audience to interpret the character's emotions and motives, since their words reveal so little. A sophisticated study of detachment and alienation, Leconte's film is a tragic and enigmatic masterpiece.