Requiem for a Killer

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01/16/2014 Avec Mélanie Laurent ça passe. See more 06/26/2013 Me gusto y eso que la verdad no esperaba nada bueno de ella. Lo mejor fuela estetica de toda la pelicula estuvo impecable. Los actores le ponian un buen caracter y la conclucion cerro muy bien. See more Emilio T @MilloTPue 04/28/2013 Melanie Laurent is the only aspect that flies a little in this movie, with just a middle-low level. See more 03/17/2012 A part que ça tient pas du tout debout, c'est pas affreux. See more 02/20/2012 Du sous Nikita joué par Mélanie Laurent...ça manque terriblement de crédibilité... See more 11/22/2011 Requiem for a Killer is the story of a female assassin. In a way the easy comparison is with the excellent Hanna which came out earlier this year. However, Hanna is a far superior piece of work with an interesting backstory and a unique protagonist. Requiem fails on both counts. Melanie Laurent plays Lucrèce, our contract killer slash operatic soprano. She can break your heart with her angelic voice and stop it with poisoned wine. It's all very ridiculous. The film plays its story with earnest, however, deadly serious in allowing the agent in pursuit of her - on her final killing before retirement of course - to play guitar in the orchestra she's sent to as her cover. We're in Switzerland and everybody seems to be watching everyone else. The killer, the spy, the secret agent, the handler, the other killer. Behind it all is the evil BRITISH OIL who want to build a pipeline through the Scottish land of the lead singer in the upcoming opera. Moments that need to be shocking arrive impressively out of nowhere. It's very difficult not to believe that you're watching an incredibly subtle send up of the entire genre. Even though you aren't, the film still works as somewhat of a pastiche of spy games and assassination plots. At moments it's downright hilarious. It's also very watchable in a popcorn kind of way. Laurent is as beautiful as the Swiss landscapes and a few of the individual scenes are undeniably enjoyable with a few pinches of salt more than usual. The film's opening deserves a mention for it's absurdity if nothing else. One moment we see Lucrèce doing her singing, then she's watching her daughter's violin performance, the next moment she's releasing some cats in a church (for a ludicrously chance role in our introductory killing) and sabotaging the sacramental wafers. Meanwhile her handler is watching via CCTV and eating some lemons. The British Oil story feels tacked on, unnecessarily book ending the film without providing enough to make the story any more believable. It does however lead to the film's best line - spoken in English; "You have carte blanche, Reverend, whatever it costs. Provided of course that Alexander Child's death passes as an accident." Very subtle. And yes, that's the terrible Reverend who organises all the big contract killings in Central Europe. There are all the usual clichés to go with the one-last-job story; the secrets the handler has of the assassin's past, the shadowy businessmen, the innocent and unwitting bystander, and so on. Requime pour une tueuse is certainly not a great film, but it is worth it for Laurent alone and for the quick demise of the mentally-handicapped gardener. Just try not to laugh too much. Or maybe that's the point. See more Read all reviews

Requiem for a Killer

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