A first rate actress, Nicole Gacia also produced films of varying quality: "Un Week-End Sur Deux" (1990) was a estimable piece of work but its follow-up "le Fils Préféré" (1994) got bogged down in a river of clichés. These two works revealed Garcia's strong interest for the family and "L'Adversaire" revives her fascination for it. It is sourced from Emmanuel Carrère's novel which is a true story. On the 09th January 1993, Jean Claude Romand killed his wife, children and parents because he was about to be unmasked. The investigation will reveal that he wasn't a doctor but an impostor who had been lying for eighteen years. The female director changed the names but kept the thread of the last moments of this extreme story.
Nicole Garcia walks away with honors and respect of a story which was difficult to shot in its entirety: how to assess a solitary, absent, tormented life of an unfathomable man with elusive thoughts facing the others? Some moments were also unimaginable (the killing of the children but with an accurate sense of directing, by keeping a low profile, by highlighting the somber scenery when her hero is all alone without extreme effects, the female director makes us really feel the loneliness of this mysterious man who just confides his secrets to a videotape. What increases the malaise is that Garcia removed any explanation or even little clues likely to shed light on his demeanor. With Faure's nonsensical actions and as the tragedy looms, the viewer will learn some astounding facts about his past like his refusal to pass his medicine exams in his second year at university.
Daniel Auteuil is like good wine: he improves with age and "l'Adversaire" bears witness of it. He's just mind-boggling and it's impossible not to remain indifferent to this incredible experience which really happened.
Nicole Garcia walks away with honors and respect of a story which was difficult to shot in its entirety: how to assess a solitary, absent, tormented life of an unfathomable man with elusive thoughts facing the others? Some moments were also unimaginable (the killing of the children but with an accurate sense of directing, by keeping a low profile, by highlighting the somber scenery when her hero is all alone without extreme effects, the female director makes us really feel the loneliness of this mysterious man who just confides his secrets to a videotape. What increases the malaise is that Garcia removed any explanation or even little clues likely to shed light on his demeanor. With Faure's nonsensical actions and as the tragedy looms, the viewer will learn some astounding facts about his past like his refusal to pass his medicine exams in his second year at university.
Daniel Auteuil is like good wine: he improves with age and "l'Adversaire" bears witness of it. He's just mind-boggling and it's impossible not to remain indifferent to this incredible experience which really happened.