Raison perdue

TV movie (now it looks like a film produced directly for the online video stream) that follows a psychiatrist who decides to help one of his patients, or who falls in love with a patient, Emmanuelle Béart, and decides to conduct his own investigation into the accusations against his patient. She is accused of murder. He does so at the risk of losing his job, getting beaten up, and putting all the pieces together.

A very good scenario for identifying the real killer, with many twists and turns. Based on a novel by G. J. Arnaud, the story is rich and complex. We had not guessed the conclusion of the investigation. Patrick Fierry is very good in the role of the psychiatrist who falls in love with his patient, always leaving the viewer undecided as to whether or not he'll give in to her, which keeps you wondering why he's doing this or that, while doing things that are against the will of everyone around him. The script plays very well on the ambiguities of the characters, both in their actions and in their interpretation. A fine piece of scriptwriting.

Adapted from a G.J Arnaud's novel, this TV movie is rather tepid, although it has an unexpected ending. But the story is a little too complex for me. I really prefer the novel. GJ Arnaud is a prolific French writer and novelist who provides very interesting stories involving normal people fighting against the powerful and rotten ones, in a most desperate manner, far away from super heroes, as we so often find in the US novel industry. The tale of a young woman - Emmanuelle Béart - daughter of a wealthy and nasty man, who is rescued after an accident and a murder where nothing seems clear for our heroine. Then a shrink decides to help her out in this sinister case. I was disappointed by this movie, despite adequate performances. I know this is made for home audiences, but that doesn't explain everything; many TV products are fine, especially in the French industry. You have in this feature many references and tributes to the movie history in general, sentences, a Zurlini's film - with Jean-Louis Trintignant, UN ETE VIOLENT - sequence on TV and posters. We find here some of the G.J Arnaud's atmosphere, concerning communities from the early seventies era, living in the hills, in the wilderness, far from the modern society, post May 1968 generation, the same atmosphere we found from time to time in the Francis Ryck's books. Alternate way of life, a sort of anti system way of thinking. I repeat, this story is so complicated, that the end of this film, where the main male leads explains everything, takes at least ten minutes, summarizing the whole plot. I could not follow it and I guess no one could. But not a garbage film, no, only too hard to follow.