The first movie in a language other than English I ever saw, and, I think, the only one that ever played in my hometown was "A Man and a Woman" (1966). It was an international megahit that won an Oscar as best foreign-language movie and had theme music that I'd still recognize after a few notes.

Lelouch has made many movies since then. Several of my Taiwanese friends adore his "Bolero," but their DVDs of it don't play on my machine and it is not available on DVD here. It was not Lelouch's name on the "Roman de Gare" (2007) DVD box (at Blockbuster, the exclusive distributor at the moment) that got my attention but that of Fannary Ardant, the muse and star of the last two movies of François Truffaut (The Woman Next Door, Confidentially Yours), the most interesting of Ozon's "Eight Women," and the star of a range of movies including Callas Forever, Swann's Way, Elizabeth, and Ridicule.

The box shows Ardant and another woman, Audrey Dana. The movie opens with Ardant's character, best-selling thriller novelist Judith Ralitzer, on a French tv literature program and then being interrogated at the Quai de Orfèvres, accused of two murders. It is more than three quarters of an hour before she is seen again.

The focus shifts to Paul (Cyrille Eldin) driving his "airhead" fiancée Huguette (Dana) to meet her family. He gets fed up with her smoking and drives off and leaves her at a gas station. She eventually leaves with a man (Dominique Pinon (Delicatessen, Amélie) who fits the profile of an escaped serial rapist known as "the Magician" because he charms young girls with magic tricks, just as the man does in the gas station/café. Or he may be a husband that took off, leaving his wife and two children. Or Mme. Ralitzer's secretary.

That's about all the story I can relate without endangering the pleasures of the very complex plot, although it obviously will get back to the interrogation at the Quai de Orfèvres and Mme. Ralitzer. And perhaps I can mention that the plot passes through Patricia Highsmith territory with  Cannes and Beaune in the background.

I consider that there is a major loose end not tied up. Like the even more Hitchcock-inspired "With a Friend Like Harry" that also involves a ride with a stranger who may be psychotic as well as seeming helpful, the ending is a disappointment after an intriguing setup. I don't much like the conventionality of the anti-climax, but I was entertained by the tide of red herrings and the changing views of all three of the main characters (each of whom spins fictions with the greatest of ease). Plus it was scenic. I think Barbara would have enjoyed the cleverness and the scenery and approved of the movie being a French find.

In addition to a trailer, the disc has a documentary about Lelouch that runs nearly an hour and makes me want to see what is identified as "Money Money Money" (original title "L'aventure, c'est l'aventure"—the adventure is the adventure) with the late great Lino Ventura and Jacques Brel. And I'm still curious about "Bolero"...

(A roman de gare is a popular novel, something you'd read waiting in a train station (gare) or on a train or airplane, or a "beach read." A very stylish and intriguing one in this case. The English title is reduced to "Tracks," also the name of Judith Ralitzer's previous novel.)

©  2009, Stephen O. Murray

Recommended: Yes