Prior to the 1989 release of Monsieur Hire, Patrice Leconte's enthralling adaptation of Georges Simenon's 1933 mystery novella, he was a well-respected director in France with eight full-length features to his name. Afterward, he was an internationally acclaimed art house sensation.
Though Leconte opens in the aftermath of a murder, he focuses on a witness rather than a killer. It's not that Monsieur Hire witnessed the killing of a 22-year-old woman, but rather the cover-up of the crime.
Unfortunately for M. Hire (Michel Blanc in an admirably restrained performance), the inspector (André Wilms) considers the tailor the most likely suspect because of his proximity to the crime scene and the fact that none of his neighbors will vouch for him. Though never stated explicitly, the suspect is of Jewish extraction, and Leconte suggests antisemitism, and not just poor social skills, as the reason other tenants view the middle-aged man with suspicion. Though Hire could tell the inspector what he knows in order to save his own skin, he chooses not to do so for reasons that will eventually become clear.
He may not be a killer, but M. Hire is a voyeur, and at night, he watches as Alice (Vagabond's Sandrine Bonnaire), the young woman in the apartment across the way, eats dinner, reads books, and prepares for bed.
One night, she catches him in the act, and hides in fright. Soon enough, though, curiosity gets the best of her, and she devises ways of engaging him. At times, she even invites his prying eyes, like when her petty criminal boyfriend Emile (Luc Thuillier) comes to call. All the while, the inspector keeps sniffing around and coming up with new ways to trip up M. Hire.
Then, Alice drops by. To his discomfort, she questions him about his voyeurism, but it clears the air, leading to a tentative friendship. Unable to leave well enough alone, however, he tries to convince her to run away with him to his Lausanne hometown, but if he has been straight with Alice, she hasn't been straight with him, and things proceed to go very, very wrong.
It wouldn't be a proper noir if everyone got what they wanted, but M. Hire gets the last word.
In the insightful interview included with this home-video release, Leconte notes that he was an admirer of Julien Duvivier's 1947 Panique, a black-and-white adaptation of Simenon's novella with Michel Simon, a tall, curly-haired actor who looks nothing like the compact, balding Blanc. Leconte's version is a more impressionistic affair set in an unknown era that could be the present day or any number of previous eras
Besides the excellence of Blanc and Bonnaire, composer Michael Nyman, a frequent Peter Greenaway collaborator, and cinematographer Denis Lenoir, a frequent Olivier Assayas collaborator, elevate the scenario from something pulpy into art with a serrated edge--kinky in some ways, but always sympathetic to its strange, isolated, occasionally off-putting protagonist.
What type of library programming could use this title?
Library programming on French literature, especially the adaptations of prolific author Georges Simenon, would do well to include Monsieur Hire, possibly in combination with Jules Duvivier's previous adaptation, Panique.
What academic subjects would this film be suitable for?
Courses on French literature, French cinema, and the films of Patrice Leconte could excellently use Monsieur Hire, which eschews violence and nudity in favor of suggestion and nuance, making it suitable for most audiences.
What kind of film series would this narrative fit in?
Monsieur Hire would benefit library, educational, or recreational film programming focused on 20th-century French cinema, in addition to literary adaptations, erotic thrillers, and films that involve surveillance and social ostracization.