Summary
Monsieur Hire is a respectable middle-aged man who runs a small tailoring business and
lives alone on a suburban housing estate. He is hounded by a police inspector who
believes he is responsible for the recent murder of a young woman. His only pleasure
in life is to spy on the young woman who lives in the flat opposite to his...
Review
Arguably one of Patrice Leconte’s most poignant film dramas, Monsieur Hire is a
fascinating study in prejudice, loneliness and desire. It has the feel of an intense
psychological thriller, but ultimately the tenderness and compassion of a profoundly moving
love story. It is stunningly filmed and marvellously acted.
Michel Blanc plays the balding love-starved bachelor to perfection. His is a uniquely
engaging performance which fully captures the tragedy of his character’s situation.
At first he appears as an object of fun, ridiculed by children, then we see him as something
quite dangerous - a voyeur who peeps as a young woman undresses each night. We instantly
put two and two together and conclude that he is indeed the murderer which he is labelled
as. But, when we have seen something of his life and his aspirations, we see the
real Monsieur Hire - a sad, hopeless individual with no future, and only a cage full of
white mice for company. As in real life, our earlier prejudices are all too quickly
forgotten.
For such a short film, this is a film that seems to say so much, and with the minimum
of dialogue. The photography is profoundly melancholic, replete with touching little
scenes which contribute nothing to the narrative but add volumes to the characterisation.
© James Travers 2000
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