Alicia I love this movie so much

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

TBM IMDb synopsis says that Franck Poupart, played by Patrick Dewaere, is 'slightly neurotic'. It's actually much worse, Poupart is a complete maniac, left unsupervised in a jungle of HLM, terrains vagues, poverty and filth. He even readily mumbles to himself that he's psychotic.I heard of Série noire when looking up Dewaere bio on wikipedia. It was mentioned how physically hard the filming was on the actors, and on Dewaere in particular. The characters keep fighting and shouting at each other, and they won't stop until they're completely exhausted or drunk. Except of course for Blier, who plays the soft spoken treacherous coward. I found this movie very close in spirit to Zola who would place weak personalities in a closed environment to sadistically observe what happens. Everyone is to blame for what happens, everyone is guilty. This is a true chef d'œuvre, but a disturbing one, the kind of movie you'll be thinking of for days to come. It's all about madness, and you'll wonder how far you are from falling into it.

dbdumonteil Alain Corneau is part of the fixture in French cinema and delivered highly estimable pieces of work throughout his career. Hence the diversity of the genres he explored either it is the adventure film with "Nocturne Indien" (1989), probably his finest hour or the detective film with "Police Python 357" (1976) or "la Menace" (1977). Nominated for the Golden Palm in Cannes in 1979 and for several French Ocsars the following year, "Série Noire" is generally regarded as the filmmaker's peak as far as detective film is concerned. I don't share this enthusiasm at all.True, Corneau hired the services of two of the greatest Actors, France has ever had: Patrick Dewaere and Bernard Blier shine in their respective acting and one can't say who is the grimmest of the two. They evolve in dreary scenery rightly enhanced by a somber cinematography to confer the film a depressing atmosphere. Corneau shot his film on a shoestring budget and a reduced crew to better involve emotionally the audience.However, I'm not convinced at all by Dewaere's downward spiral who contemplates to steal the old lady's loot. Corneau doesn't leave enough clues likely to shed his demeanor and his motivations to do it. Then, if Corneau wished to highlight his tragical fate, he partly failed. The fact that Dewaere is trapped in a vicious circle because he is a victim of fatality leaves me deeply unimpressed. Mainly because once again Corneau doesn't make it obvious on the screen. And I found Marie Trintignant's lifeless acting more irritating than gripping.So what remains are indisputable assets such as the acting and the choice of scenery but that's all. Definitely not the Corneau to which I would return.

supermarco The late seventies, the very dull east suburban area of Paris, winter, waste grounds and awful new towns in the landscape. The set is definitely a character of the film. An amazing thriller, very dark with unique characters, completely lost in their misery, although full of the little hopes of ordinary lives. The cast includes a wonderful Patrick Deweare as "Franck", a magnificent looser, and Marie Trintignant as "Mona" a desperate teenager, almost autistic. Their encounter is the lead of this bloody black romance, that will leave you, nevertheless, with an optimistic feeling...

anhmvanlindert There is in this movie one of the best scenes ever to be seen on. Deweare is outside on a parking place, in the night in the city. He shouts etc. About love. I don't remember exactly what he says, but the sadness, lostness, despair and loneliness in the city that he is expressing, the image this scene is offering has been one of my main inspirations for my artwork. This movie makes me really cry, so much it touched me in my heart. It is like a religious experience, this image of estrangement in modern lost times in the city.