The Clockmaker of St. Paul (1974)
The Clockmaker (1974)
DVD5 | ISO+MDS | NTSC 4:3 | 01:40:27 | 3,02 Gb
Audio: French AC3 2.0 @ 192 Kbps | Subs: English hardcoded
Genre: Crime, Drama
DVD5 | ISO+MDS | NTSC 4:3 | 01:40:27 | 3,02 Gb
Audio: French AC3 2.0 @ 192 Kbps | Subs: English hardcoded
Genre: Crime, Drama
Michel Descombes is a watchmaker in the district of Saint-Paul, Lyons. He lives quietly, alone with his almost grown-up son, Bernard. One day, the police come and say Bernard murdered a FACTORY OWNER. Superintendent Guiboud asks Michel for help. But Michel realizes how little he knows about his son. He also starts to feel he is unable to blame his son.
IMDB
The Clockmaker of St. Paul (1974)
Michel DesCombes (Philippe Noiret) is The Clockmaker (L'Horloger de Saint-Paul), a middle-aged man who finds himself in the middle of a police investigation and its attendant media circus after his son Bernard (Sylvain Rougerie) is accused of murder. Leftist politics, strong-arm threats, deceitful journalistic tactics, and an unlikely friendship with Police Inspector Guilboud (Jean Rochefort) complicate Michel's life and his reaction to the situation. But as he struggles with his emotions, Monsieur DesCombes begins to recognize his younger self in his estranged son; the two are drawn closer together even as Bernard faces up to twenty years in prison.
The Clockmaker of St. Paul (1974)
![The Clockmaker of St. Paul (1974)]()
Bernard Tavernier, an ex-film critic who became a founding member of the French New Wave movement, collaborated with screenwriters Jean Aurenche and Pierre Bost to adapt Georges Simenon's novel to the screen. The Clockmaker takes its time with the story - there's some mystery involved, but the film unfolds in a completely naturalistic way, chronicling Michel's actions in the days after the murder with little dramatic manipulation or compression. Tavernier also takes the liberty of focusing exclusively on Michel - while we do meet Bernard, we don't hear his side of the story, and we see him and his actions solely through the eyes of his father.
The Clockmaker of St. Paul (1974)
![The Clockmaker of St. Paul (1974)]()
This quiet, intimate approach is what gives The Clockmaker much of its power - it recognizes that life-changing events often happen moment by moment, rather than in the artificially structured manner demanded by fiction. The dialogue even comments on the gaps between "movie reality" and reality on several occasions, and Tavernier's film is careful to maintain a cinéma vérité feel. (This is not to suggest that film has a low-budget or documentary style - excellent cinematography and careful, almost geometric composition provide evidence of the director's hand at work, particularly in a Lynchian opening shot of an automobile burning ferociously in the night.)
The Clockmaker of St. Paul (1974)
![The Clockmaker of St. Paul (1974)]()
Star Philippe Noiret contributes another strong performance to the New Wave cinema, and he does it in such a transparent way that he scarcely seems to be acting. Noiret's Michel makes his decisions privately, but the thought process is very visible onscreen - whenever he so much as brushes a hand across his forehead, we know exactly what he's feeling. His performance is a critical element of the film - we never even meet many of the characters who are mentioned or glimpsed in photographs, and the story is carried on Noiret's shoulders. Jean Rochefort also contributes an effective, credible performance as Inspector Guilboud, a bureaucratic but human official who sympathizes with Michel even as he tracks Bernard down.
The Clockmaker of St. Paul (1974)
![The Clockmaker of St. Paul (1974)]()
There's a political subtext to the film - Bernard's alleged victim is a hated factory supervisor, an authoritarian lecher who uses his power to harass the working girls and fight the union, and we learn that Michel himself has a history of resisting abusive authority. But The Clockmaker is not a political film - the political discussions and opinions voiced by its characters lend texture and realism to the story, but have little to do with its intended message. It is a portrait of one man's relationship with his son, and the potential for redemption in time of crisis. It's intimate, touching and thoroughly credible. Recommended.
The Clockmaker of St. Paul (1974)
Special Features: None
Many Thanks to Original uploader.
If you want to download it, but found out that links are dead,
just leave a comment or PM me!
just leave a comment or PM me!
No More Mirrors.