Summary
At château Glandier, Mathilde, daughter of the famous inventor Professor Stangerson,
is attacked in her bedroom by an unknown assailant. Who could want to kill her and
how could he (or she) enter and leave a room which was locked from the inside? The
police, led by Frédéric Larsan, suspect Mathilde’s fiancé, Robert
Darzac, but reporter and amateur sleuth Joseph Rouletabille has another theory.
Assisted by his loyal photographer, Sinclair, Rouletabille sets about solving the mystery
of the yellow room and makes some astonishing discoveries...
Review
In this, the fourth film adaptation of Gaston Leroux's celebrated novel Le Mystère
de la chambre jaune, director Bruno Podalydès offers a distinctly personal
slant on the familiar detective mystery genre. With its 1920s setting, comic book
style characters and quirky sense of fun, the film is a respectful mélange of Agatha
Christie and Hergé's Tintin – an obvious pastiche, yet one which is crafted with
great skill and imagination.
What most sets this apart from similar films is its pleasing nostalgia element (emphasised
by the moody photography, slightly parodied characterisation and the mesmerising interludes
featuring mechanical “toys”). This is obviously Bruno Podalydès re-living his first
acquaintance with the fictional heroes of his early adolescence. Podalydès
also manages to include a number of references to Alain Resnais, a director whom he greatly
admires.
Bruno Podalydès’ brother, Denis, takes the starring role of the journalist Joseph
Rouletabille (who, in this incarnation, bears an uncanny resemblance to Tintin), in a
star-studded cast which includes Claude Rich, Sabine Azéma and Pierre Arditi.
Michael Lonsdale is a delight as the eccentric scientist Stangerson, but most endearing
is Jean-Noël Brouté in the role of Sinclair, Rouletabille’s hopeless sidekick.
The Podalydès-Brouté double act works so well that we can probably expect
to see them together in a subsequent film. The episode in which Rouletabille forces
Sinclair to stay on guard inside a grandfather clock is the stuff of film legend.
The film is heavy on exposition (which is perhaps unavoidable given the complexity of
the plot in Leroux’s original text), but the narrative style and comic embellishments
help to make it digestible. To appreciate the film’s artistic style, a second viewing
is essential; the first time you watch the film, you are too occupied with the plot to
see the lavish detail behind it. Unlike most films which follow the “whodunit”
formula, Le Mystère de la chambre jaune can be watched again and again without
losing its appeal.
© James Travers 2003
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