Série noire (film)
Série noire is a 1979 French crime film directed by Alain Corneau, based on the novel A Hell of a Woman by Jim Thompson, that stars Patrick Dewaere, Marie Trintignant and Bernard Blier.[5] Corneau originally intended to collaborate with author Jim Thompson to adapt one of his novels, Pop 1280, but the project was aborted.[6] Finally, the director focused on another Thompson novel, A Hell of a Woman, and wrote the script in collaboration with Georges Perec.[5] For the character of Frank Poupart, Corneau wanted Patrick Dewaere, even if it meant giving up filming it if the actor refused.[5] The role of the enigmatic and taciturn Mona is entrusted to the young Marie Trintignant,[6] whose cinematographic experience had been limited to participation in films made by her mother, Nadine, who was Corneau's partner.He innovates by shooting with two or three cameras with very little lighting (the chief operator Pierre-William Glenn will use film more sensitive than normal) and takes few shots.[5] Dewaere asked the director to be ready to shoot this scene, shot in a vacant lot one morning when it was minus fifteen degrees, because he did not want to do it many times and refused to be overtaken by a stuntman.[10] After a strong sequence where the character played by Dewaere beats that of Myriam Boyer, the actor reveals to his partner that he had the impression of hitting his mother (Mado), as if to settle his accounts with her.[11] Released in French theaters on 25 April 1979 with a ban on under 18s, by 31 December 1979 the film had recorded 847,651 admissions, ranking it in 41st place in the annual box office.