A dockworker obsessed with avenging his sister's death finds himself tempted by a mysterious woman.
Director Jean-Jacques Beineix was one of a trio of 1980's French directors (the others being Leos Carax and Luc Besson) creating what local critics dubbed "cinéma du look", due to the bold visual style, romanticism, and artifice of their films compared to the previous generation. Beineix had a hit with his debut feature Diva, which played for over a year in Paris in its initial run, was nominated for four César Awards, and garnered high praise from prominent American critics as well.
Beineix's second film was based on a novel by American crime writer David Goodis, whose works had been previously adapted in François Truffaut's Shoot The Piano Player, Nightfall by Jacques Tourneur, and Dark Passage starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.
The cast includes Gerard Depardieu, Nastassja Kinski (Roman Polanski's Tess, Cat People), Spanish actress Victoria Abril (Almodovar's Kika & Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down), Dominique Pinon (Amelie, City of Lost Children). American stage actress Bertice Reading spoke no French and learned all her lines phonetically.
Cinematographer Philippe Rousselot (Interview With The Vampire, A River Runs Through It) returned to work with Beineix behind the camera. Despite taking place in the French port city of Marseilles, most of the film was shot on the soundstages of famed Italian studio Cinecitta.
The film debuted at the Cannes Film Festival and was deemed an overblown misstep, especially compared to the taut Diva. It was nominated only for technical Césars awards, winning for its production design. Over the years, the film has built up a cult following and was recently released on DVD in the U.S. for the first time. Beineix would find success again with his sexually frank drama Betty Blue.
Running time is approx. 2 hrs, 15 min.
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