Simply A Masterpiece

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Best movie of this year hands down!

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

This movie is an work of art, obviously that you will need some baggage to debunk the meanings and the critic of modern occidental society to understand and grasp the real meaning behind it.A critique to the materialistic, narcissistic, egocentric. and individualistic modern day society where our God is money and the love of it that drives us to empty lives. The movie is a Shakespearean poem: to be or not to be...A critique to the what American Indians called WETIKO or Brazilian Indians called ANHANGA, a masterpiece of Art.At the first quarter of the movie, the main character, is depicted as a drunk, a looser, without any means to pay for basic needs, nonetheless he has time to spend with his most precious "possession" his daughter. He doesn't have but he is.He than sells his time, as most of us do with our time, with our lives to a company, where he just does something compartmentalized, just a piece, but the company as all major companies do becomes his master, and in exchange for a full material life, an American Way of Life, chains him as most companies chains most of us without we even realizing it.He than loses control over his life and becomes a slave to the company and all the material benefits it provides him with, but he doesn't have anymore time to spend with his most precious possession, his daughter. He no longer IS, he only HAS.Being a former COP, he then starts asking questions, he starts wanting to go out of his COMPARTMENT, out of his BOX, to really know what he is taking place in, what really is going on in this mysterious business, starts investigating and almost loses his child and metaphorically LOVE, which UNITES US.He than finds out after some investigation that there is a secret society, a secret wine... A wine made from the lives of other people, from the body of innocents... This is what CAPITALISM and NEO-LIBERALISM has been doing for the past 50 or more years to most part of the developing world. Draining peoples lives in the name of profit.

If you get a lot of money, for something that is "easy" ... well you can imagine that there is more to it. And the viewer knows it and the ex-cop who's doing the job probably knows it too. But money buys a lot of things and let's people sleep well. The story itself is a slow-burner, especially at the beginning, but picks up the pace towards the end and gets really good there.So the first half might be something you have to fight through, but there is some reward, even if you can't relate to the main character. The little girl is really good acting-wise and the story does pack a punch or two, which you might not expect like that.

For once ,a good title ,and a screenplay which does not fall apart in the first reel,which is rare in French contemporary thrillers;besides,Jérémie Rénier is in it,and that was my main reason to watch it.The director has a good sense of mystery and he makes the best of the settings: A candlelit apartment,a public garden where our ex-cop meets a strange old man,an apparently quiet canal,a strange ceremony in China ,a meeting in the dark forest,an auction sale (probably a hint at Hitchcock),and this shop where all the clocks have stopped ...the director knows only one tempo:accelerated ,and his hero seems overtaken by events in the first half.Some flaws appear in the last third:the providential intervention of the superintendent (who,by chance ,is the hero's half brother) ,and the banal last pictures:after such a revelation (and the scene in the cellar is deeply moving in its horror),we expected more.For a short while,I feared these suitcases might lead the story into the dreadful "transporter" territory ,but it is not so :Rénier does not portray a superman,à la Statham,but an ex-cop whose only reason to live is his daughter ;his past is revealed late in the story .Like this? Try this"Traitement De Choc" Alain Jessua,1972

This film is a fast-paced thriller designed to keep the audience guessing until the final minutes. Despite a few clunky plot twists and turns it retains its credibility mainly due to the talent of its lead actor, Belgian-born Jérémie Renier.Neither Renier nor director Jean-Baptiste Andrea are strangers to international film-goers. Renier was Eirik in Martin McDonagh's In Bruges, while Andrea has directed a couple of films stateside (Dead End in 2003 and Big Nothing in 2006). This could account for the very transatlantic feel to La Confrerie which pays more attention to style and pace than in-depth character development.Renier is Gabriel Chevalier, an ex-cop whose personal life has taken a nosedive. He's a gambler, an alcoholic, a widower and single-parent to a rebellious teenage daughter. Unable to hold down regular work, he takes up the dubious offer of a job which involves sitting in an empty office waiting for the phone to ring. When it does, Chevalier is told to deliver a black briefcase to a specific address. One final instruction, he must never, ever, look inside the briefcase.Working as a well-paid delivery man, Chevalier trots around the globe while gradually being pulled deeper into a world of hired assassins and hardened thugs until a line is crossed and he wants out. Unfortunately, the job has no expiry date and to protect his family and reset his moral compass, he must solve the mystery of what's inside the black briefcase.Andrea proves adept at building intrigue and tension in equal measure – a skill which goes to the heart of a good thriller. But La Conferie belongs to Renier. He has created a multi-layered anti-hero who seamlessly moves from being a tough man-of-action to an attentive, caring father. The scenes with his 12-year-old daughter Juliette show a completely different side to the ex-cop which helps to excuse some of his later, more erratic behaviour. Only his relationship with Clare Foczensky (Audrey Fleurot) a female police officer, hits a false note. Perhaps in the style of American movies, a 'love interest' is de rigeur? But here it only creates a time- consuming and contrived parenthesis to a film which was getting along fine all on its own. In 2012, Renier won huge plaudits in France for his brilliant portrayal in the film Cloclo of popular French-singer Claude François, most famous for co-writing the song 'My Way'. He is a hugely watcheable actor and his role as Chevalier is once again a testament to his versatility.