«The Henri Pick Mystery»

Cinema Wednesdays - Jonas Follonier and Lauriane Pipoz

The Henri Pick mystery is a film adaptation of the novel of the same name by David Foenkinos. It tells the story of a novel (another one) whose author is an illustrious unknown who died a few years earlier. Rémi Bezançon signs a successful film with Fabrice Luchini and Camille Cottin.

In the heart of Brittany, the Bibliothèque des Livres Refusés is home to all the manuscripts not accepted by publishing houses. Following a discussion with her father, a young editor in search of new talent decides to go there. That's where she stumbles upon The last hours of a love story, a veritable nugget combining love stories and Russian literature. The author is none other than the village pizzaiolo, but no one has ever seen him read or write. What follows is an investigation led by the strange duo of Jean-Michel Rouche (Fabrice Luchini), a journalist in decline, and Joséphine Pick (Camille Cottin), daughter of the mysterious author.

A suspense film that isn't a suspense film

Despite a synopsis suggesting that this is a suspense film, this is not the main asset of this drama. It's based on a novel by David Foenkinos, who is more accustomed to offbeat novels and romantic fictions, so that's already a good clue. From the middle of the film, the solution to the enigma gradually takes shape. This is probably due to a major simplification of the book's plot when it was adapted for the screen: the screenplay dropped many of the characters from the original story, leaving just two. As a result, the investigation was probably not at the heart of the original story and gained in importance for its visualization, which might have required additional work to make the plot a little more complex.

The dazzling, well-filmed landscapes, the music that creates a false sense of heaviness and, above all, the splendid performance of most of the cast are only a few of the things that bother the viewer. casting still make for a great time. Fabrice Luchini and Camille Cottin excel in their art, and represent two generations of actors from the great lineage of exceptional French cinema. The complicity between the two characters can only come from the complicity between the two people.

And the director won't contradict us: at the film's Paris preview, we learned that Rémi Bezançon had asked Fabrice Luchini who he wanted to work with. His answer was straightforward: Camille Cottin. They had just shot the successful series Ten percent. Also, some of the hilarious lines in the film were improvised by Luchini, as when he asks his partner on the set if she has a psychotic relationship with her mother. It's for all these details that The Henri Pick Mystery is, without a doubt, a must-see!

Write to the authors:
jonas.follonier@leregardlibre.com
lauriane.pipoz@leregardlibre.com

Photo credit: © Pathé Films