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READ MY LIPS (SUR MES LEVRES) Send This Review to a Friend
A film by Jacques Audiard, "Read My Lips (Sur mes levres)" was one of the best films presented in the Rendezvous with French Cinema 2002 and is now getting its commercial release in the United States. The story, which Audiard co-wrote with Tonino Benacquista, is unusually offbeat. Carla, the heroine, is a hearing-impaired woman who lacks self-confidence. Emmanuelle Devos, who plays her, won a Caesar award in France as best actress over the highly-touted Audrey Taitou, the star of "Amelie." When Vincent Cassel as Paul, a newly released ex-con, applies for a job at the firm where she works, Carla takes pity on him, and the complications begin. After an attraction develops between them, he harnesses her ability to lip-read in a scheme to outwit criminals plotting a robbery.
"Sur mes levres," suspenseful and smartly shot and edited, has all the earmarks of film noir. But whereas Carla is a sympathetic character, Paul is not, and that's complicated by the scruffy, unappealing look of Cassel, who fits in the mold of what the French seem to think is attractive these days. Jean-Paul Belmondo in the classic "Breathless" was a departure from the pretty boy look but he had charisma and sex appeal, not qualities which Cassel projects. The violence is tough to watch at times. Drawbacks aside, "Read My Lips" is certainly a hot new film.
The character of Carla is far from your customary heroine. She is on the plain side and her self-doubts add to the portrait. But as the film moves along she gathers strength even though she is being manipulated. She also earns respect for the way she deals with her handicap, which turns out to be key to the plot development. Paul, on the other hand, shows that he can't shed his criminal tendencies. The man is trouble, and yet he and Carla become linked together as the tension builds.
"Read My Lips" is extremely well made and earns plaudits for that alone. There is a confident air about the film, which crackles along, has nifty touches, and exhibits a hard-driving professionalism. It stands as a French film that may be one of those that break through the distribution problems plaguing foreign language productions. A Magnolia Pictures release.
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