Crossed Tracks(English)

Creative quotient
French and European filmmaking at its best produces fine cinematic products like Crossed Tracks(Orginally Roman de Garein French). The film is a dark thriller, murder mystery sprinkled with some quintessential romance.
Judith Ralitzer (Fanny Ardant) a popular crime novel writer is working on her new book and at the same is under the French police scanner for her speculated affiliation with a serial killer. A killer, rapist and murderer who uses magic on his victims escapes from prison and is on the loose. A beautiful young woman Huguette (Audrey Dana) is abandoned by her fiancé en route her family’s old farm. She catches up with a sly looking Pierre Laclos (Dominique Pinon) who is also adept at magic and asks him to stand-in as her fiancé for the meeting with her parents. Laclos claims to be the ghostwriter for Ralitzer and at the same time Laclos’ sister copes with her missing husband.
There are several twists and turns in the story thanks to multiple storylines and plot developments.

Technical expertise
The best part of the film is its narrative. It engages and captivates the viewer’s attention with great guile. The conflict created by the similarities between Laclos and the missing serial killer’s characters gives the film a great edge.
Pinon and Dana’s performances are worth their weight in gold. With some superb writing, good direction and clever use of camera the film is able to provide a thoroughly entertaining premise. This glossy thriller comes with some rather lame explanations to certain situations but all in all it’s good enough to make the viewer’s palms sweat.