In its opening shot, READ MY LIPS shows Carla (Emmanuelle Devos) inserting her hearing aids and getting ready for work. But it's evident that her hearing problem does not hold her back as she throws herself into answering the constantly ringing phones at her job as an unappreciated secretary for an architecture firm. Swamped .. Read more
| Starring | Vincent Cassel, Emmanuelle Devos, Olivier Gourmet, Olivier Perrier |
|---|---|
| Director | Jacques Audiard |
| Genres | Thriller, World Cinema |
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In its opening shot, READ MY LIPS shows Carla (Emmanuelle Devos) inserting her hearing aids and getting ready for work. But it's evident that her hearing problem does not hold her back as she throws herself into answering the constantly ringing phones at her job as an unappreciated secretary for an architecture firm. Swamped with work, Carla asks her boss to hire an assistant for her, Paul (Vincent Cassel), an ex-con who is trying to get his life back on track. To everyone else--her sexist coworkers and her sexy friend Annie--Carla is a dog with a disability. But to Paul, who is Carla's subordinate, she's a femme fatale. In Paul's life--to his parole officer and the two-bit thugs to whom he still owes money--he is an untrustworthy outcast and a bum. But to Carla, he is a secret weapon with skills (lock-picking, physical intimidation) that she needs. Likewise, Carla becomes Paul's secret weapon as her ability to read lips opens up a new world of possibilities to his plotting, criminal ways.
READ MY LIPS is a story of romance through and through, and, in its second half, a fast-moving and constantly flip-flopping heist drama. Once Carla and Paul really start working together, the tension between them only helps them along. Never trusting each other, never predictable in their actions, these characters imbue Jacques Audiard's masterful film with a breathtaking suspense that is simultaneously alluring and repellent.
| Starring | Vincent Cassel, Emmanuelle Devos, Olivier Gourmet, Olivier Perrier, Olivia Bonamy, Bernard Alane, Cecile Samie |
|---|---|
| Director | Jacques Audiard |
| Studio | PATHE DISTRIBUTION |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 53 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Thriller, World Cinema |
| Language | DVD: French |
| Subtitles | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 10 Mar 2003 Production year: 2001 |
Director Jacques Audiard shrewdly manipulates both sound and audience expectation in this compelling critique of gender politics. However, he then opts for systematic thrills rather than concentrating on the meticulously established psychological intrigue between deaf secretary Emmanuelle Devos and thuggish parolee Vincent Cassel. Her ruthless pursuit of both professional advancement and personal revenge against those who have spurned her, is expertly realised in a chilling display of outward humility and simmering self-belief. But the narrative contrivances that predominate after Cassel's criminal past inevitably catches up with him, then disappointingly hijack this intense and unpredictable character study for more cynically commercial purposes.
"...The performances of the two leads are impeccable....[Cassel] has reined in his natural magnetism to excellent effect, but it is Devos whose performance absolutely has us in its power..."
Another good french film...is it something in the water over there?
The film, a delectable thriller/romance stars Emmanuele Devos as 'Carla'...
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A great film with fantastic use of sound and wonderful performances from the two leads.