Mystère de la chambre jaune, Le (2003)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Bruno Podalydès

Writers:

Gaston Leroux (novel)
Bruno Podalydès (writer)

Release Date:

11 June 2003 (Belgium)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Mystery

Plot Keywords:

Detective Is Assassin | Rare Meat | Castle | Detective | Double Identity

Cast

Denis Podalydès	...	Joseph Rouletabille
Jean-Noël Brouté	...	Sainclair
Claude Rich	...	Le juge De Marquet
Scali Delpeyrat	...	Le greffier
Sabine Azéma	...	Mathilde Stangerson
Michael Lonsdale	...	Stangerson
Julos Beaucarne	...	Le père Jacques
Olivier Gourmet	...	Robert Darzac
Pierre Arditi	...	Inspecteur Frédéric Larsan
Isabelle Candelier	...	Madame Bernier
Dominique Parent	...	Monsieur Bernier
George Aguilar	...	Petit-Pied, le garde-chasse
Patrick Ligardes	...	Le brigadier
Sylvain Solustri	...	William, homme en noir
Vincent Vedo Velli	...	Marcel, homme en noir
Bruno Podalydès	...	Le narrateur / Le médecin
Marcel Loshouarn	...	Journaliste 1
William Picot	...	Journaliste 2
Numa Sadoul	...	Journaliste 3

Directed by
Bruno Podalydès

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Gaston Leroux		novel
Bruno Podalydès		writer

Produced by
Martine Cassinelli	....	executive producer
Pascal Caucheteux	....	producer

Original Music by
Philippe Sarde

Cinematography by
Christophe Beaucarne

Film Editing by
Hervé de Luze

Production Design by
François Emmanuelli

Set Decoration by
Marie Cheminal

Costume Design by
Dorothée Guiraud

Makeup Department
Sylvie Aid	....	makeup artist
Delphine Jaffart	....	key makeup artist
Richard Luzy	....	key hair stylist
Olivier Seyfrid	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Albert Blasius	....	assistant unit manager
Guillaume Favreau	....	production manager
Laurencina Lam	....	post-production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Hubert Barbin	....	first assistant director
Raphaëlle Piani	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Laurent Dupire-Clément	....	assistant art director (as Riton Dupire-Clément)
Maxime Girault	....	art department runner/trainee

Sound Department
Cyril Holtz	....	sound re-recording mixer
Gael Nicolas	....	sound editor
Laurent Poirier	....	sound
Michel Schillings	....	sound recordist
Pierre Tucat	....	boom operator
Philippe van Leer	....	foley artist
Pascal Villard	....	sound editor

Stunts
Frédéric Vallet	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Eric Bialas	....	Steadicam operator
Anne-Françoise Brillot	....	still photographer
Xavier Cholet	....	electrician
Nicolas Dollander	....	Steadicam operator
Nicolas Dollander	....	additional camera operator
Eric Gies	....	electrician
Jean-Pierre Lacroix	....	gaffer
Luc Pallet	....	first assistant camera: second camera, second unit
Laurent Passera	....	grip
Sophie Pejus	....	second assistant camera
Yannick Ressigeac	....	second assistant camera
Jean-Pierre Voisin	....	electrician

Editorial Department
Sarah Perrain	....	apprentice editor
Christophe Pinel	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Patrick Boshart	....	location scout
Thierry Valletoux	....	reportage
Anne Wermelinger	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Canal+
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC)
• Ciné Cinémas
• Cofimage 14
• France 2 Cinéma
• Gimages 6
• Les Films du Fleuve
• Procirep
• Radio Télévision Belge Francophone (RTBF)
• Sogécinéma
• Wallimage
• Why Not Productions
• Wild Bunch

Distributors

• A-Film Distribution (2003) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (200?) (Netherlands) (video)
• Argentina Video Home (2004) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (2004) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Distribution Company (2004) (Argentina) (all media)
• UGC-Fox Distribution (UFD)

Also Known As:

Mystère de la chambre jaune, d'après l'oeuvre de Gaston Leroux, Le (France)
The Mystery of the Yellow Room (literal English title)

Runtime:

France:118 min | Argentina:116 min

Country:

Belgium | France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Netherlands:AL | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Argentina:13 | France:U

Company:

Canal+

Movie Connections:

Version of Mystère de la chambre jaune, Le (1912)

Dumbed-down version of the book...

Interesting comical actor direction... But nothing even close to the wit that we can read in the book. Another one of those sad cases where the book, much longer than a 2-hour adaptation would allow, is twice more interesting than the movie. And it's always sad, for someone who read the book before, to notice that they didn't hesitate to remove most of the secondary plot lines, and even change the configuration of the infamous "Yellow Room" (which was very important to the plot).

But my worst worry would be for some of the actors they hired. Father Jacques is played by a man with an accent (what a stupid idea!) and a very bad actor. But even worse is Robert Darzac -- described as elegant and charming in the book, he also wears a mustache... Which he doesn't in the movie. Of course, the movie also forgets to render him as even remotely elegant or charming. And did I mention he's a very bad actor too? Well, maybe he just did what he was asked to do... Then it's probably the director's fault.

Do yourself a favor and read the book. It's excellent (and basically the book that inspired Agatha Christie in her youth), and doesn't need any of these fancy "inventions" that plague the movie.