La meccanica delle ombre

This film has also been released with the English language title THE EAVESDROPPER. Its original French title is LA MÉCANIQUE DE L'OMBRE. It is set in Paris and the central performance by Francois Cluzet is absolutely perfect. As for the direction by Thomas Kruithof, who also co-wrote the original screenplay, it is a master class model of how to make a thriller which never loses its pace for a second. But this is not one of those thrillers with car chases and gun battles. It is primarily a surgical examination of MENACE, and it has a profound psychological element to it. Cluzet plays a man who becomes involved in a mysterious surveillance project. His job is to listen to taped phone conversations and type them out on a typewriter, as computers are not considered safe. He sits alone in a bare flat doing this and becomes increasingly alarmed at what he hears. One day he hears a murder take place. He is a man of few words and few friends. He can tell no one. He goes on with his work. He notices articles in the newspapers about the people whose conversations he overhears. There are hostages being held by terrorists, and someone is delaying their release. Politics is involved, but who is doing it? Some of the conversations recorded are those of security chiefs. The level of security access suggested by this mysterious operation is very high. Cluzet tries to quit, but is prevented from doing so by threats. He becomes compromised in a murder. Things get worse and worse, and then they get still worse. The director is clever at building the tension, and the musical track aids this superbly. The settings and the direction itself are what could be called 'minimalist'. This is highly effective. It is easier to be scared when things are bare and there are no visible clues. What transpires, who is behind it all, and whether Cluzet will survive, are all things which the reviewer's code prevents me from revealing.