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The Assistant
With his wife in labor, father-to-be Thomas (Malik Zidi) speeds to the hospital, and in the process, accidentally kills a young man on the road. That death sets into motion events that will change everyone’s lives forever, including the young man’s mother Marie-France (Nathalie Baye), who cannot recover from the trauma. Nine years later, Marie-France takes a job as Thomas’s secretary without him knowing about her connection to his past. As Marie-France’s maternal rage reaches tragic proportions, she insinuates herself into his life, his work and his family in this classic thriller à la Hitchcock.
| Release : | 2015 |
| Rating : | 5.6 |
| Studio : | Cinéma Defacto, Artémis Productions, Tarantula, |
| Crew : | Set Supervisor, Costume Supervisor, |
| Cast : | Nathalie Baye Malik Zidi Johan Leysen Sabrina Seyvecou Hervé Sogne |
| Genre : | Thriller |
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Reviews
Masterful Cinema
Lack of good storyline.
Absolutely Brilliant!
The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.
I second the first user's opinion:'La Volante" (=the flying secretary)is a taut absorbing psychological thriller which owes a good deal to Nathalie Baye whose performance is mind-boggling: if looks could kill,hers certainly would ;her smile is so prepossessing that it's almost eerie, frightening.She literally mesmerizes the audience,as she surpasses the executives ("she should know her place " sneers the hero's collaborator),and everybody around;she even seduces -for she is a very attractive woman- the hero's old man who soon marries her (the photograph of the wedding will come back as a fitting finale).Playing opposite such an outstanding actress,Malik Zidi (who was excellent as Jacques in "Les Thibault" miniseries) rises to the occasion,no small feat.The story is very classic,linear ,and could have been written by Simenon,Steeman,Very or Boileau-Narcejac:yes It's that much good.One plot hole :how is it possible that the driver and the mother whose son he's knocked down on the street do not meet at the hospital or at the police station?There must have been an inquiry.The trick of the medal is hackneyed.But it's minor quibble:this is a cruel story ,the beginning of which is particularly daring: a child is born whilst another one is dying;Baye's despair and crying fit when she sees her son's dead body is almost unbearable .And ,first but not least, admire the cast and credits ,at the beginning of the film!Like this? try these ....."The bride wore black" (Truffaut ,1967;from William Irish)"L'Enfance Du Mal" (Olivier Coussenacq,2010)
What a taut drama telling us the story of a woman whose the son is killed as a jaywalker by a hit - but not run - driver, a man whose the wife is about to give birth to their first child. Nine years later the deceased's mother - Nathalie Baye - seeks for a terrific revenge for her son death. She impersonates the killer husbands'secretary, assistant, and then step by step plans an insidious and machavellian intrusion inside the man's life, professional and personal: wife, child, father. Nathalie Baye is here absolutely outstanding as the villain, the first time in her career. But a villain character for whom we feel great empathy. This film reminded me another french feature which was made back in 2008: L'EMPREINTE DE L'ANGE, nearly the same atmosphere and same kind of story, if not the same tale. Don't miss it.
