Le silence

Although the action takes place in Corsica ,viewing this film will provide you with a complete change of scene here,even for a French.Filmed on location, the cinematography is splendid indeed,taking advantage of the magnificent landscapes of the island.It creates such a grandiose atmosphere in which the hero -who spends his vacation on the island but is a native , his aunt notably lives here - is completely lost as the movie progresses.Even the boar hunters he is part of become threatening .

This is not really a thriller: oddly ,the scene of the murder might remind you of that of Clint Eastwood 's "true crime" (1998);and the hero,who witnesses the whole scene , flees ;there the comparison with the American movie ends; the young man ,cannot bring himself to go to the police station .

The code of silence has always been a golden rule in Corsica ,as such writers as Guy De Maupassant or Prosper Mérimée have shown in the nineteenth century ; informing, betraying are unthinkable.Even in the twenty-first century ,his friendly hunt mates tell him so .Even the aunt remembers stories of long ago.

Disturbing scenes increase tenfold the hero's feeling of guilty : the little chuch devoted to a saint whose eyes were scratched out because she did not want to renege on Jesus in Roman times ; the bleeding chunks of wild boar meat .

I'd tone my praise down a bit for the hero's fantasies filmed in black and white which do not bring anything to a haunting movie which does not need them at all.

Silence is the keynote :the movie begins and ends in silence ;if you are going for a thriller (the poster may fool you) ,you will be disappointed .If you are looking something different ,off the beaten track, you will be rewarded.