A young man has great difficulty in feeling something. The ordinary joys and satisfactions of life do not gladden him, nor do the ordinary disappointments and sorrows sadden him. In a desperate bid to feel something - anything - he tries to conjure up strong sensations, by any means possible. It's the beginning of a descent into hell : as his quest robs him of his humanity, he needs ever stronger kicks to know, or feel, he's alive, which in turn pushes him towards ever greater crimes and betrayals. Devoid of any kind of insight in his condition, and moved by cruel and shameful drives, he is convinced that he is becoming his true self : a hunter, born to hunt his inferiors.
This, in a nutshell, is the subject matter of "La prochaine fois", a movie based on the real-life crimes of one Alain Lamare. Lamare seems to have been insane - later on, psychiatrists would conclude that he suffered from a rare form of schizophrenia. As his mind deteriorated, he went on a vicious crime spree, while working as a "gendarme" on the task force charged with investigating the selfsame spree. As if all of this wasn't confusing enough, he sent taunting letters to the task force and thus, by extension, to himself. He might have been caught earlier if the gendarmerie, in a fine display of corporate touchiness, hadn't concluded that none of its strapping young men could be a criminal.
"La prochaine fois" is a well-made and well-acted movie, intelligent and restrained. Apart from a few nature scenes the movie is executed in a drab, drained or chilly colour palette : a fitting metaphor for the desolation of the perpetrator's life. The various sets and locations too, breathe sadness, decay and solitude.
So this is a very powerful work. Still, it focuses so exclusively on the life and viewpoint of the protagonist that it threatens to become claustrophobic. Even two or three short scenes about the impact on wider French society would have added extra variety and interest.
Although the movie itself restrains from drawing wider political or societal conclusions, I think it should be made into mandatory viewing for experts charged with determining the mental health and fitness of people such as soldiers, policemen and security guards.
This, in a nutshell, is the subject matter of "La prochaine fois", a movie based on the real-life crimes of one Alain Lamare. Lamare seems to have been insane - later on, psychiatrists would conclude that he suffered from a rare form of schizophrenia. As his mind deteriorated, he went on a vicious crime spree, while working as a "gendarme" on the task force charged with investigating the selfsame spree. As if all of this wasn't confusing enough, he sent taunting letters to the task force and thus, by extension, to himself. He might have been caught earlier if the gendarmerie, in a fine display of corporate touchiness, hadn't concluded that none of its strapping young men could be a criminal.
"La prochaine fois" is a well-made and well-acted movie, intelligent and restrained. Apart from a few nature scenes the movie is executed in a drab, drained or chilly colour palette : a fitting metaphor for the desolation of the perpetrator's life. The various sets and locations too, breathe sadness, decay and solitude.
So this is a very powerful work. Still, it focuses so exclusively on the life and viewpoint of the protagonist that it threatens to become claustrophobic. Even two or three short scenes about the impact on wider French society would have added extra variety and interest.
Although the movie itself restrains from drawing wider political or societal conclusions, I think it should be made into mandatory viewing for experts charged with determining the mental health and fitness of people such as soldiers, policemen and security guards.