Chrysalis (2007)

This is a stylish french sci-fi movie. After a murder, a policemen has his memory where his wife gets killed. Unfortunately another investigation leads him to the same killer. Another parallel story is one of a young women you is locked in a hospital and gets some odd treatment to get some memory erased.The story has some rough edges although the global plot is quite interesting. Most actors do a great job, although some are a little too frenchy. The most interesting part of the movie is the directions and all details. Fighting scenes are gripping, and the futuristic details give a great sense of realism. You really buy his 2025 Paris, the futuristic operations at the hospital.Despite details of the story, this movie is very entertaining and has style.

Watching this movie to the end was such a real torture for multiple reasons that I had to share about my pain and frustration from this horrible experience. First, the story is so empty, dull and finally stupid that it could have been told in 15 minutes max. But much worst is the directing style that is terribly boring. It starts nicely visually like for an advertising for any high end contemporary luxury product; as if it was the only intention of the director, to prove that he could do it nicely (with tons of cash). But having to watch this commercial for more than 30 secs but a full hour and a half becomes very painful after just 15 minutes. The directing is terribly boring with endless very useless slow camera moves on cold architecture, useless moving cars, actors walking in or out for 20 secs or elevators elevating for a good 20 or 30 secs. What the hell?!? Mixed with fistfights with no visual interest, a very dumb and not plausible shooting while running scene where one cannot shoot another from 2 meters, and endless slow paced and useless scenes that should have been cut out or not even be shot to start with. Very soon, it all appears very pretentious. Because when they finally talk, foreigners might not hear it but the tone is often horribly false, especially with the German accent of the blond actress. Her tone is SO wrong. It becomes a torture like with very bad amateur karaoke singers. I do not understand how a director cannot hear it when editing. like a musician without hears. Dupontel who I usually always love despite very strange (bad) career choices has no lines here and is only one color tinted, making his character totally dull and boring after 20 minutes. Melanie Thierry is not bad but a bit transparent here despite extraordinary facial features. No characters has any interesting point besides the villain just because he remains a bit mysterious but we'll quickly discover that besides his strange eastern accent he has nothing more to deliver than pure brute stupid violence. Sublime former French model Estelle Lefébure took an honorable chance to show some of her unknown acting talents and truly did not fall in many traps and delivers as much emotion as the script allows her to; maybe even a bit more. But of course there was not much to deliver from the script and to remember particularly to start with. Overall I had to push "2x" faster button many many (too many) times to not fall asleep for a third time. This movie can only be an excellent "berceuse", something to go to sleep in 10-15 minutes if you don't mind having to start over the next day to this where it goes. And there is no spoil here in telling that it leads NOWHERE. Good Luck. pass your way. PS: On this same SciFi topic of memory manipulation, I just watched Paycheck from P.K. Dick and John Woo and that was way much better even if really not good neither. Mandchurian Candidate seems to keep staying one good reference.

All connoisseurs and other snobs know that between 1960 and 1980 French cinema was miles ahead of Hollywood. Directors like Melville knew that they could not compete on special effects etcetera because of the smaller budgets. They took the only possible course: do what Hollywood doesn't dare to do. Chrysalis breaks the Hollywood conventions as well and still stands firm in the French tradition. The pale colours remind us of classics like Le Samourai; the Hoffmann character could have been played by Alain Delon in his heydays. Dialogues are minimalistic and therefor highly effective. The two story lines first are independent and gradually merge. Montage between the two is brilliant; every scene makes you longing for the next one. Only halfway the meaning of the opening scene is partly revealed; only near the end you will understand it fully. So some patience and a bigger attention span than average is demanded - and rewarded. The movie has two weak points. First of all there is the plot. Probably I am not fair, but I find it hard to accept the plots of Robocop and Terminator as well. Never will movies like that get more than 8 stars. Second I find the Hoffmann character not that convincing anymore after his "accident". Don't take my criticism too hard. Deviating from the Hollywood norm involves risks so should be praised. Chrysalis is highly entertaining and intriguing, unless you prefer the standard, brainless and predictable stuff. And never I have seen such cold scenery.

There are many ingredients of the cyberpunk genre in this film, which is why I was looking forward to see it. Unfortunately, it is a weird mix and while Leclerq obviously has a flair for aesthetics, he would have been better off letting someone else write the script.Albert Dupontel, better known as an actor and director of comedies, continues his recent transition to more "heroic" roles. Here, he has amazing presence and physicality playing David Hoffmann, a hard-nosed cop. Unfortunately, the script is so bad, the direction so poor, that sometimes you just can't believe his lines or behavior.His character is not the only one lacking development and substance. Everyone surrounding him looks even more like a walking cliché. Marie Guillard lacks credibility as Becker, Hoffman's pretty rookie partner. Veteran actor Marthe Keller plays a doctor with an agenda and recites her uninspiring lines without conviction. Alain Figlarz is intensely physical as the movie's main goon but as a villain, again the script doesn't sell him very well. There are many other characters we equally do not care about. Apparently, in the future, every woman in the police department will be a pretty girl who looks unfit for the job.So, if the plot is terrible, the characters uninteresting and their lines ridiculous, why exactly does it deserve a 5 rating? Well for one, there are martial arts scene in the pure tradition of Bourne. the context in which they happen is silly but their execution is actually flawless and they are pulse-pounding. Kudos to Dupontel here. He delivers big. The rendition of a Paris in the not-so-distant future is also beautiful. It's mostly interiors (few outside shots) but you do get a nice feel of what could realistically be the future. It's extremely stylish and European. Speaking of which, the photography here is very good.What you're left with is a movie that combines elements of techno-thriller, noir and sci-fi and takes itself very seriously. Unfortunately, it's not done well enough. When your scenario lacks credibility, a good way to save it is by injecting something else. Irony, humor or romance. But Chrysalis never does that. And the action is sparse enough that we notice it's flaws.I hope Leclerq will pursue his career but I'd rather he directs and let someone write.