Un été d'enfer

The 80's aren't highly regarded as a period of great crime films in France. Except some few which were successful both critically and commercially, such as La Balance (1982) and Tchao Pantin (1984), most crime or noir films were generally panned by critics and had low attendance scores. This is not the exception for "Un été d'enfer", which in my opinion provides an excellent example of how a good noir film should be.

The film's stars Véronique Jannot and Thierry Lhermitte. Jannot had risen to prominence through the series Pause café, in which she portrayed an affectionate and conscious social worker, who dealt with typical problems of adolescents in a school, such as teen pregnancy and drugs. The honesty of the series regarding these issues and Jannot's interpretation propelled her to instant fame. Lhermitte had become famous through his work with the subversive theatre troupe Le Splendid which satirised French institutions in films and theatre pieces such as the excellent "Le père Noël est une ordure" (1982), which mocked the Christmas spirit of modern times. Their roles in "Un été d'enfer" are quite banal, having none of the innovative character of the works that made their names. In this film, Lhermitte plays a former motorcycle driver who is injured after an accident and loses his ability to race. In order to survive, he finds a job as a detective, and is called up to investigate the case of the disappearance of a girl, Véronique Jannot's sister, who hasn't been seen for three months - exactly a summer. So begins a frantic pursuit, which leads the hero into the world of drug trafficking through meetings with prostitutes and criminals. "A hellish summer" can be a possible translation of the title, and the plot certainly stands up to the name.

The two leads' performances were commendable, especially Lhermitte's. His portrayal of the fearless and determined detective kept the film going. Another good though short performance was the one of Coryne Charby, a former model who later became a singer and scored some hits, the most famous being "Boule de flipper" and "Pile ou face". Here, she portrays a prostitute who tries to hide her drug usage from Lhermitte. So intensely she acted in this film, that I was shocked by her performance, even if it lasted for a short period of time. This performance signalled the end of her brief acting career, though, since she couldn't find any other roles after this film, and so left the cinema in order to become a singer.

The director, Mickael Schock, did an amazing job in this film. He perfectly captured the noir feeling entailed in his depiction of the underground world, and did great use of location, with the slums and the green of the nature contrasting each other to create an ever-changing setting, in which the story takes place. The audience of the time seems to have been as immersed to the film as I was, since it exceeded 1 Million admissions upon its release. His version of the underground world, though, was not perfect, often surpassing the limits of fiction, in contrast to the realism of Bob Swaim's "La Balance" (1982), which won a Cesar for the best film, and also garnered the awards for both Best Actor, and Best Actress.

Another element of the film which impressed me was the music . Written by the unknown in the English speaking world François Valéry, a singer-songwriter who enjoyed popularity for some years in 80's France, it certainly shows his ability to write good film music. The theme song "Born to run", is a perfect example of that. Intense, stimulating and catchy, it can certainly stand up to its American counterparts, and shows the kind of pop-rock music that was in fashion at that time in France. It fits with the subject of the movie, and provides good accompaniment to the action scenes. To my mind, it is way better than some songs which met global success in the same year, such as Footloose by Kenny Loggins. François Valéry should have had his music recognized outside the narrow borders of France, since with this film, he showed that he could capably write scores with both aesthetic appeal and hit potential.

In conclusion, Un été d'enfer is a compelling noir film that serves as a representative example of what kind of films were produced in France at a time when the country's outputs in this genre were denigrated, and rarely appreciated by neither the audience, nor the critics. I highly recommend it to those interested in the noir genre of the 80's, and anyone with a love of French film culture. Although the heroes may have lived a hellish summer, my time when watching the film was all but that.