«The Henri Pick Mystery»

Cinema Wednesdays - Jonas Follonier and Lauriane Pipoz

The Henri Pick mystery is a film adaptation of David Foenkinos’s novel of the same name. It tells the story of a novel (yet another one) whose author is said to be a complete unknown who died a few years earlier. Rémi Bezançon has directed a successful film starring Fabrice Luchini and Camille Cottin.

The Library of Rejected Books, located in the heart of Brittany, houses all the manuscripts rejected by publishing houses. After a conversation with her father, a young editor on the hunt for new talent decides to visit the library. It is there that 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 really one

Despite a synopsis suggesting that this is a suspense film, that isn’t the main draw of this movie. It is based on a novel by David Foenkinos, who is better known for his offbeat novels and romantic fiction—which already gives us a good clue. By the middle of the film, the solution to the mystery is already gradually coming into focus. This is likely due to a significant simplification of the book’s plot during its adaptation for the screen: the screenplay discarded a good portion of the characters from the original story, retaining only two. The investigation was likely not the core of the original story and gained importance for the film adaptation, which might have required additional work to add a bit more complexity to the plot.

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 thoroughly enjoyable experience. Fabrice Luchini and Camille Cottin excel in their craft and represent two generations of actors from the great tradition of exceptional French cinema. The chemistry between the two characters can only stem from the chemistry between the two actors themselves.

And the director himself would certainly agree: at the film’s Paris premiere, we learned that Rémi Bezançon had asked Fabrice Luchini who he’d like to work with. His answer was straightforward: Camille Cottin. They had just finished filming the hit series together Ten percent. Also, some of the hilarious lines in the film were the result of Luchini’s improvisations, such as when he asks his co-star if she has a psychotic relationship with her mother. It is because of all these details that The Henri Pick Mystery is, without a doubt, a must-see!

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Photo credit: © Pathé Films