L'autre vie de Richard Kemp

"The Other Life of Richard Kemp"? . . . ye-es, but not exactly. The deadpan title works in French, but in English it's a bit of a blank; something else must be found, but the distributors have come up with "Back in Crime," suggesting a banal Time-Cop movie. "L'autre vie" is something else entirely - the time travel serves as an uncanny portal: Chief Inspector Richard Kemp is thrown back twenty years, to when he was a lone wolf detective, over-proud of his rep as best on the force, Co-existing in 1989, the older Kemp is afraid to approach the younger - he spies on himself, and works secretly in parallel to undo the mistakes that let a killer get away. And meanwhile the older Kemp is falling in love with the psychologist he first met on the last day of his first life. A "rebirth through water" motif might be a nod to De Palma's "Femme Fatale"; and the seductive camera movements and layered compositions also hint that the writer-director Germinal Alvarez has learned from his great precedent. But Alvarez brings out a triste atmosphere that's all his own. Best romantic thriller I've seen in a long time.

The two (or was it three?) likable main characters kept me watching this impossible French time travelogue police drama - an aging homicide detective with a head injury goes back 20 years to hunt a serial killer while continously encountering a shrink from Genoa. The cop is compelled to track down the elusive Earwig Killer who shatters eardrums of his victims by high-tech means, not the insect, before murdering them. Inspector Kemp wants to change history by preventing the murders but apparently is unaware that the renegade Time Lord Dr Who has decided that changing history is a no-no - but I digress! Back in Crime (L'autre vie de Richard Kemp) is set in an industrial port city (Cucq) north of Amiens, nowhere near Paris as the short MHZ film description suggests. The locales are dark and gloomy, with deep waters, high bridges, outmoded pay phones, dark alleys and abandoned buildings but the apartment buildings where much of the story unfolds is pretty swank.

the title of this review might be confusing, but this is a film with a person going back in time, trying to change what's going to happen in the future. It's almost become a genre of itself, but here's another good take on it.

This film is another French film triumph, like there's been some many for the last years. There's an edge to the French film nowadays, which not only make the a French flow into the cinemas, but also making sure that French films again are getting some severe recognition. At least they should, and this one as well.

It's a well crafted romantic crime thriller with a touch of sci-fi and definitely inspired by film- noir. The film should literary be translated into "The Other Life of Richard Kemp"? Or "Richard Kemp's second life". I like that title way more than the chosen international "Back in crime" or even worse, "Time for murder" as it's called translated into the Scandinavian languages.

The titles are misleading, almost telling this is a clichéd crime story. "L'autre vie..." is a much smarter film than that.

Police Chief Inspector Richard Kemp is knocked on the head and thrown into a river. When he wakes up in the water, he is thrown twenty years back in time, to when he was a young arrogant detective, receiving cassettes from a serial killer. He meets himself as 20 years younger, and approaches himself, but doesn't dare to speak, but starts spying on himself. Richard is back co-existing in 1989, the older Kemp starts working secretly in parallel to undo the mistakes of he younger Kemp, which have let a killer operating for 20 years get away. The older Kemp is also spying on the woman he has fallen in love with 20 years later, the psychologist he first met on the last day of his first life.

It's very difficult to make a consiting story about going back in tim to change the course of the future. It's almost impossble to do it without confusing the audience, and how is it really possible to change a thing which have lead to another course of events. This thriller manages well to both give suspense and room for thoughts, which is completely nessesary to appreciate the film.

Expect this to be remade in Hollywood in a couple of years. Well done! Recommended!