One man, one obsession. A weary and dark policeman, haunted by monstrosity and by an old case, a tortured character full of flaws like the cinema loves, and who Juan Carlos Medina considers as a hero of Jean-Pierre Melville’s cinema. Obsessed by the death of a girl kidnapped 10 years earlier, he tracks down an elusive kidnapper in the north of France in 2015, in a race against time on the verge of a statute of limitations. Time is passing and time is running out.
Bouajila impeccable
Sami Bouajila carries this role with quiet sobriety: he is impeccable as a methodical but broken cop. The intense actor does not overplay: even if the subject of the film and his character as a stubborn and brooding inspector investigating a disturbing affair which shakes his faith in humanity are hardly new to cinema, he convinces, in the gangue of ‘a suspenseful, knotty and labyrinthine plot.
Adapted from a 2013 Korean thriller, Six days unfolds like a thriller under tension and influence, somewhere between the sticky and visceral atmosphere of Minima Island by Alberto Rodriguez and the icy darkness of David Fincher’s thrillers. The North is not just a setting, it is a character in its own right for its director: from the Digue du Braek in Dunkirk, a tongue of concrete between sea and factories, it forms a border line between a hell of steel and a wild paradise, the powerful metaphor for the inner conflict of the protagonists, their dilemmas.
Beautiful achievement
If the film does not reinvent the genre and relies on familiar narrative springs, it stands out with its careful aesthetic. Director of photography Renaud Chassaing did some great camera work. There are some very beautiful shots, beautifully photographed sequences. Strong reds, dull greens and deep blacks create a suffocating atmosphere.
If the film shines with its direction – the opening of the film impresses – and the interpretation of Sami Bouajila, it stumbles on other aspects. Julie Gayet, as a devastated mother, struggles to convey the emotional intensity of her role, making certain key scenes heavier. Six days nonetheless remains a thriller that takes care of its dark atmosphere.
Six days by Juan Carlos Medina, in theaters this Wednesday, January 1. Duration: 1 hour 41 minutes.
