Raphaël Jacoulot – Avant l’aube (2011)

in 2011-2020, Belgium, Drama, Mystery, Raphaël Jacoulot November 9, 2018 1 Comment 503 Views

Director Raphaël Jacoulot’s dark and atmospheric mystery, set in an isolated high-Pyrenees hotel, has all the desired elements – precise and intelligent direction, excellent casting and a great plotline in the Chabrol-Simenon tradition.

The events, as they first unfold from an innocuous opening, quickly spiral downward for la famille Couvreur. One snowy evening, despotic hotel-owner Jacques Couvreur (Jean-Pierre Bacri) sends his incompetent son down into the valley to re-stock several cases of wine. The son collides with a pedestrian and for some reason the father decides to hide the truth and say nothing about the hit-and-run accident. A young trainee, Frédéric (Vincent Rottiers), just released from prison and re-starting his life, becomes implicated in this strange affair. Inspector Poncet (Sylvie Testud), in her endearing and off-putting Columbo-esque investigative style, strives to uncover the truth behind the discovery of the corpse.

The film is a character study of a family and its secrets as well as a dissection of the workings of a grand hotel, its personnel, and its clientele. Producer extraordinaire, Dominique Besnehard, a great friend of CINEMANIA, played a pivotal role in bringing this excellent cerebral thriller to the screen.