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L'Appât
1995 Crime / Drama
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Credits
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Director: Bertrand Tavernier
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Script: Bertrand Tavernier, Colo Tavernier, based on a novel by Morgan Sportes
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Photo: Alain Choquart
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Music: Philippe Haïm
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Cast: Marie Gillain (Nathalie),
Olivier Sitruk (Eric),
Bruno Putzulu (Bruno),
Richard Berry (Alain),
Philippe Duclos (Antoine),
Marie Ravel (Karine),
Clotilde Courau (Patricia),
Jean-Louis Richard (Innkeeper),
Christophe Odent (Laurent),
Jean-Paul Comart (Michel),
Philippe Héliès (Pierre),
Jacky Nercessian (M. Tapiro),
Alain Sarde (Philippe),
Daniel Russo (Jean-Pierre),
Philippe Torreton (Chief cop),
François Berléand
(Durieux)
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Country: France
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Language: French
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Runtime: 115 min
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Aka: Fresh Bait; The Bait
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Summary
An adolescent girl, Nathalie, shares a small Parisian apartment with her two friends,
Eric and Bruno. None of them has any hope of getting a job but they all have unrealistic
aspirations. Nathalie wants to become an actress; Bruno dreams of being a champion boxer;
Eric thinks he can make his fortune as a retailer. When Eric’s only income disappears,
he contrives a scheme which will earn them enough money to start up a business in America.
Nathalie will hang out in nightclubs to lure rich businessmen and gain their confidence.
When she is invited to their homes, she will let Eric and Bruno in to rob them. The plan
starts to go awry immediately when Bruno kills their first victim…
Review
L’Appât is Bertrand Tavernier’s
most disturbing film to date – a dark, pessimistic but believable reflection of
adolescent disaffection and moral vacuity. By adopting a raw documentary style and encouraging
his actors to give naturalistic performances, Tavernier heightens the shock-value inherent
in the drama (which is based on a real-life case) to sickening proportions.
None of the three principal characters is evil; on the contrary, they have a sympathetic
urbanity, which is underscored by their precarious social position (and excellent portrayal
by three very talented actors). Their amoral behaviour is the inevitable consequence of
a society where human life is utterly devalued by its “throwaway” portrayal
in films, computer games, and other media. How else could the childlike Nathalie sit calmly
watching television whilst her two friends casually terminate a life in an adjacent room?
They have no idea what they are doing.
This is a grim post-noir portrayal of a world and a generation that have totally lost
their way – made cynical by social fragmentation and subsisting on a diet of trashy
American crime thrillers. L’Appât
is a difficult film to stomach, mainly because it strikes so near to such an unpalatable
truth.
© James Travers 2004
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