The Clockmaker
by Bertrand Tavernier
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Product details
Actor: Jacques Denis, Jean Rochefort, Julien Bertheau, Philippe Noiret, Yves AfonsoDirector: Bertrand Tavernier
Cinematographer: Pierre-William Glenn
Writer: Bertrand Tavernier
Producer: Ralph Baum
Producer: Raymond Danon
Writer: Georges Simenon
Writer: Jean Aurenche
Writer: Pierre Bost
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Subtitled); French (Original Language), Analog
Format: Color, Letterboxed, NTSC, Widescreen
Running Time: 105 minutes
Release Date: 2000-06-27
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Publisher: Kino Video
Studio: Kino Video
VHS Movie Reviews of The Clockmaker
Movie Review: The combination of Philippe Noiret and Bertrand Tavernier, this time with Jean Rochefort, make for a movie worth watching
Summary: 4 Stars
"Your son killed a man...We don't know why." The cause of the movie is the murder. The purpose of the movie is to look closely at Michel Descombes, the father. The Clockmaker (l'Horloger de Saint-Paul) is not a murder mystery. Were it not for the skills of Bertrand Tavernier and his frequent lead actor, Philippe Noiret, we might be in for a long, introspective slog full of what it means to be a solitary human being. With these two, and with Jean Rochefort as Inspector Guilboud, we have a movie that explores loneliness, friendship and, eventually, understanding with a good deal of depth and style.
Descombes is a self-contained man, friendly enough, probably what he thought of as a reasonably good parent, but not an especially happy man. "You're a widower?" a policeman asks. "No, not exactly," he says. "We were already separated. I guess I am a widower. I was just as miserable as one." Descombes struggles to understand his young son. Inspector Guilboud struggles to understand the son's motive, and then to understand the father. The more they learn, however, the more the fact of the matter stays the same; the son murdered a man. "I killed him because he was filth," Bernard Descombes eventually declares. Guilboud finds some empathy with Descombes. Even so, Descombes' son will be caught. "France is a funny country," Guilboud says. "Fifty-million inhabitants, twenty million informants." Descombes' son seems to represent more than just another murderer to Guilboud, a man with his own issues. He may see something of himself in Descombes. It is Descombes, however, who has to make the hardest journey, to try to understand who his son is.
The Clockmaker turns out to be one of the most interesting of the collaborations between Tavernier and Noiret, even with the now dull political subtext of complacent and suffocating French society. Still, the movie was made in 1974, an uneasy period. The movie finds itself, however, and the last twenty minutes are powerful minutes. "I stand by my son...in complete solidarity." Without Noiret, this movie would not have worked at all well, in my opinion. With Noiret and Rochefort, it works very well.
Other films by Tavernier and starring Noiret that I recommend with enthusiasm include Coup de Torchon - Criterion Collection (a marvelous black comedy), Revenge of the Musketeers and Life and Nothing But.
The DVD transfer by Kino is inexcusably poor, with a cropped, fuzzy, dark picture and poor color hues. The subtitles are yellow with black edging and are easy to read. There are no extras.
Movie Review: It's Never too Late
Summary: 4 Stars
"The Clockmaker" turned out to be an interesting movie despite some annoying distractions. It impressed me as the story of a man who had led a casual life and realized, almost too late, what he had missed out on. His quiet, non-intrusive life was interupted one day when he finds that his son is accused of murder and is on the run. The movie follows the father as he gradually becomes more and more involved with the issues surrounding the murder, the policeman who is in charge of the investigation, and the need to understand who this son of his really is. I really enjoyed the way the subtle yet continuous changes emerged in the father. He slowly loses his "whatever" outlook and apolitical attitude. While he changes from someone we like into someone we're not sure of, we realize it's because of his need to better understand his son. Although there really aren't any surprises, I'll leave it at that rather than risk saying too much.
My objection to "The Clockmaker" is that it is described as a thriller. On a Hitchcock standard, "The Clockmaker" would be the equivilent of "The Wrong Man". If you haven't seen that one, you may have a long wait to do so. It, too, had the expectation of a thriller by virtue of the director and was never really appreciated as the psychological study it was. My other objection is the attempt at involving politics in the story. The effort was lame and the effect was a distraction. I came away with no real understanding of the issues (other than Owner vs. Worker 101). The issue would pop up unnecessarily and too often; all the more reason that the father is the only true focus of the movie.
Movie Review: BERTRAND TAVERNIER, OPUS 1
Summary: 3 Stars
*** 1974. Loosely based on Georges Simenon's The watchmaker of Everton, THE CLOCKMAKER was co-written and directed by Bertrand Tavernier. Earned the 1973 Louis Delluc Prize and two awards during the 1974 Berlin International Film Festival. The son of an ordinary French clockmaker commits murder. His father tries to understand why. Not bad but more a social study than an investigation movie. Hence, one can be annoyed by the numerous references to the French social climate of the early seventies.Movie Review: A clever film that goes far beyond the policial aspect !
Summary: 5 Stars
Since his son is arrested due a political murder, his father-a watchmaker who lives in Lyon is mortified to learn this awful new.
He will employ all the tools ofhis office to analyze, scrutinize and inspect all the related issues of this political murder. This was the first feature film of this famous French director.
Overwhelming acting of Noiret,as always. A slow paced film which will reward you!
Movie Review: another french political film
Summary: 3 Stars
i saw this film as a simple, if somewhat homoerotic love story between a lonely father and a sympathetic police officer. reading the two other reviews up here i realize that perhaps i was wrong. the film features good acting by phillipe noiret as the father, although a cynic would argue that his sad-eyes did all the work. the moral of the film is that that acts of violence against deserving bad guys can repair strained father-son relationships. hey bertrand, we already saw indiana jones and the last crusades. NEXT!
Summary of The Clockmaker
This was the film debut of critic-turned-director Bertrand Tavernier, an outstanding 1973 thriller based on the Georges Simenon novel. The Clockmaker stars Philippe Noiret, Tavernier's onscreen alter ego, as a quiet watchmaker forced to retreat from his self-imposed solitude and face the messy and painful world when his son is arrested for murder. Tavernier is superb at combining politics and philosophy in trying to solve soul-searching dilemmas, and his choice of actors is always effective for physical and emotional ballast. Here he pairs Noiret with Jean Rochefort, a sympathetic police commissioner. Both have restrained natures and are slow to burn, as they confront the parallels to their existences. --Bill DesowitzGeneral Video
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