The Town Is Quiet
Picture: C+
Sound: B- Extras: D Film: B-
Politics and drug dealing are afoot, but in France again,
but this is not The French Connection 2. Instead, this is an actual French film entitled The Town is
Quiet, Robert Guediguian’s tale of corruption and devastation in a
beautiful part of France revisited again here.
The director co-wrote the film with Jean-Louis Milesi, about the
somewhat intertwining tales of a mother, her Heroin-addicted daughter, and the
child of the daughter they both are now taking care of.
When things get worse with the addiction, ex-lover Gerard
has connections, which he uses to actually get her daughter more Heroin! If that’s not enough, local boat labor is
getting radically right, using immigrants as scapegoats. This will not help the budding romance
between a North African man and an older piano teacher, though one of those
workers leaves his ranks to become a Taxi driver and try to evade this vicious
cycle. Then there is the assassin who
is out to shoot a high-ranking public official while at an upscale party near
the boat docks, which only twists the story further.
You have a cast of mostly unknown actors (even to this
savvy critic), but they are good because they have the talent and are being challenged
by the ambition of this project. Good
actors can appear in poor material, and be good, but it’s the more blunt and
honest work that brings out their deepest best. That helps keep the film as good as it is.
The film is not as layered as an Altman film, or Steven
Soderbergh’s Traffic nor is it as graphic as Darren Aranofsky’s Requiem
for a Dream, but it does have its effective moments and is not bad
overall. The stories to work together,
though not so complexly woven.
The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is above
average, showing signs of a PAL recycling, but cinematographer Bernard Cavalie
gives us some great cinematography of the land and intimate shots of the
personal happenings the characters go through.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is in Pro Logic surround and is not bad,
but far from state-of-the-art. The use
of Janis Joplin songs, relevant to the drug angle (if it does not always work),
shows the sounds limits. You get a few
trailers as extras, including for this film, but that is it.
Only three years have past since this film was made, and
much has occurred in the world since.
It is fascinating, however, leaving The Town is Quiet as a film
to catch if you are so inclined.
- Nicholas Sheffo
