crossed tracks (roman de gare) 2007 region free dvd5 french bcbc

Crossed Tracks (French: Roman de gare) is a 2007 French film directed by Claude Lelouch (who appears in credits as Hervé Picard). The film follows a novelist, her ghost writer, and a wayward young woman as a chance encounter at a rest stop interrupts the delicate balance of their lives. French actor Dominique Pinon received wide praise for his rare turn as the film's leading man. The title is French slang for "trashy novel one reads in a train or train station" similar to the English phrase "airport novel".

(Contains movie and Optional English Subtitles. No menus or extras. Regular DVD quality (Not BD, 1080p etc...). Seeding always appreciated).







Plot

As the movie opens, a woman writer with a recently bestselling novel is being questioned about a murder. The story cuts to a young woman abandoned by her traveling companion at a roadside rest stop. A helpful man offers to give her a ride.



The story turns on a series of mysterious identities. There is an escaped rapist-killer with a penchant for magic tricks. There is a man who has abandoned his family. And there is a writer’s assistant. Which of these three is the helpful stranger?



He is especially suspicious as he begins secretly dictating into a recorder a story about a woman in danger. The man and woman travel from the rest stop to her parents’ home, where her daughter is also living. (The woman herself lives in Paris and claims to be a hairdresser.) The man bonds with the daughter and disappears with her for several hours...



By the end of the movie, the plot threads come together and the audience identifies each of the three mysterious characters, as well as the role of the woman writer.



Publicity

During the film's production, the press was duped into thinking that a new young filmmaker named Hervé Picard was making the project as his debut film. Initial screenings ran without credits and perpetuated the hoax. It was only on the eve of its Cannes debut that Lelouch took credit for directing the film, and revealed that the aforementioned Picard was merely his tennis coach. Having suffered bad reviews on a few films released previous to this, Lelouch wanted to see if his film would get a more positive greeting from critics if they did not think he had made it. The deception also mirrored one of the film's key story hooks, which involved one person taking public credit for another's writing, under the belief the actual creator would not be as well-received.



Reception

Roman de Gare was released in the United States in April 2008 to positive reviews, earning an 87% rating on the review website Rotten Tomatoes.



Crossed Tracks Review

April 15th, 2009

Sleight-of-hand by a French master.



Claude Lelouch was so fed up with being pilloried by high-minded critics, he made his most recent film, Roman De Gare, under the pseudonym Herve Picard – only revealing his authorship when it premiered at the Cannes festival.



Without being told, Lelouch’s legion of admirers would almost certainly have recognized his trademark blend of suspense and romance, and stories within stories, in the opulent settings of Burgundy wine country and Cannes, and a misty mountain at the foot of the Alps. It’s a clever, engrossing mix of murder mystery and literary puzzle, superbly acted and richly photographed.



The opener introduces best-selling novelist Judith Ralitzer (Fanny Ardant) being interrogated by the cops about her possible links to two deaths. The action then backtracks to four scenarios: an escaped homicidal pedophile who performs magic tricks to lure his victims; a teacher who suddenly abandons his wife and kids; a creepy guy (Dominique Pinon) at a service station who does a trick for a little girl accompanied by her parents; and a man who ditches his neurotic fiancée Huguette (Audrey Dana) at the servo after an argument.



The Pinon character offers Huguette a lift, she reluctantly accepts, then asks him to come with her to her parents’ farm, posing as her doctor boyfriend Paul. He claims to be Ralitzer’s ghost writer but Lelouch introduces enough red herrings to indicate he might be the runaway teacher or even the serial killer.



The elaborate plotting by Lelouch and co-writer Pierre Uytterhoeven may seem confusing at times until all the strands come together neatly. Avoiding spoilers, I won’t reveal the victim or the perpetrators: just let’s say the director keeps the audience guessing until the end.



An unconventional leading man, the pug-faced Pinon (Delicatessen, Amelie) is terrific as the enigmatic central character. Ardant brings both gravity and humour to the troubled novelist for whom life doesn’t go as she would have scripted. Huguette is a bundle of rage, insecurity and low self-esteem, but Dana succeeds in making her very sympathetic.