filmalamosa This movie is really a sort of satire of Agatha Christie's Towards Zero. Like Peter Sellers movies it tries to make this genre a comedy.A further complication is added to the comedy.. The murderer may have been Aude she walks due to the incompetence of the Poirot Marple Colombo detective.Guillaume is just plain crazy.The film pokes fun at stilted period English murder mysteries.However only the second wife Carolin was funny she was the best part of the movie.I have trouble recommending this....turning murder mysteries into comedy is just not my idea of entertainment plus the slap stick acting--particularly Guillaume towards the end and the servants through out is just a turn off and not funny.Do Not Rent.

jotix100 A French adaptation of Agatha Christie's "Toward Zero" gets an excellent treatment at the hands of Pascal Thomas, a French director that appears to have been inspired by the original text. He has transferred the action to a gorgeous spot of Brittany. Since this is a rethinking of the Agatha Christie's novel, it was given a French flavor to go with the surroundings.At the center of the story is Camilla Tressilian, a wheelchair bound aristocratic lady with a great fortune. For the summer vacation she has invited her nephew Guillaume Neuville and his new wife, Caroline. She also has asked Aude, at the suggestion of Guillaume, a strange request, indeed. Marie-Adeline, who is Mrs. Tressilian's assistant, oversees all the arrangements. There is also a guest that comes from Vietnam, Thomas Rondeau, who has been away from France.The first formal dinner includes a former judge, Charles Trevoz, a man that knows a lot of secrets. At the table, Camilla asks the man about his most interesting case. Mr. Trevoz recalls a strange case that involved the supposedly accidental murder of a boy at the hands of another peer that was playing with a bow and arrow. One thing though, Mr. Trevoz does not reveal who the person was involved in the crime.That night, Mr. Trevoz is brought to the hotel by another guest. The only trouble is the elevator is out of order, meaning the older man has to climb four stories to his room. The following morning he is found dead. The news is too much for Camilla and her guests. Everyone is shocked when Mrs. Tressilian is found dead in her bed. She has been murdered by a hard blow to her head.The investigation that follows brings a vacationing inspector, Martin Bataille, to the scene. The situation is so mysterious that anyone of the people in the household, including the guests, could be the killers. Batailles follows unconventional methods to find out who did it. After some false movements the assassin, and his motives come to the open.Our main interest for watching the film was the presence of Danielle Darrieux playing Camilla. Ms. Darrieux, one of the most interesting personalities of the French cinema is a treasure to watch. She shows a regal presence that is a delight to watch, even though her part is not exactly the lead. Melvil Poupaud and a shrill Laura Smet, are Guillaume and Caroline. The enigmatic Aude is played by Chiara Mastroianni. Francois Morel is delightful as Bataille.Renan Polles, the cinematographer has worked with the director before. He gets in vivid details the beautiful Brittany scenery.

Michal Zahálka Towards Zero is not one of Agatha Christie's more famous novels, but for a murder mystery lover it is almost an essential read. It has been several years since I read it, but I very distinctly remember how much I enjoyed it as well as the plot and the substantial twist.This French movie adaptation is set in present day Bretagne, but other than that remains - rather surprisingly - true to the book, more so than, for example, the Diana Rigg version of Evil Under The Sun. All important plot points remain intact. Not that this in itself signifies a great movie. Au contraire, vraiment - while the cinematography, setting, music and pacing are more or less good, many of the actors overact their characters to the point of becoming caricatures instead. The shrewish wife or the maid (vaguely reminiscent of Nancy Walker's Yetta in Murder By Death, nevertheless wholly unsuitable for a serious murder mystery) are best examples of this. Danielle Darrieux is, quite unsurprisingly, not among those, and her much too brief appearance as Aunt Camilla is the only real performance in the picture. François Morel as the detective comes close to one, but not quite close enough.Final verdict: Entertaining murder mystery with some hammy performances, fast pacing and a great twist by Dame Agatha herself. Also useful as a French listening comprehension practice, especially if you're as lucky as I am and your copy lacks subtitles.

writers_reign In 2005 Pascal Thomas adapted an Agatha Christie story for the screen, signed up Catherine Frot and Andre Dussollier for the leads and enjoyed the minor success which prompted him to do it again ergo Zero Hour. In my case top-billed Danielle Darrieux - still acting in her ninety first year - was all the inducement I needed to get it up at the box office and the fact that Thomas has made another competent film is a bonus. If you like movies in which the actors wear timeless, well-cut clothes, move in a well-appointed château with a seascape thrown in for good measure and behave in obligatory mysterious ways so that an eventual murder has been long anticipated then you won't be disappointed. Chiara Mastroianni, looking more like her father every day is also on hand to remind us what we lost when her father died and if she bears only a passing resemblance to her mother that's not so important because mum Catherine Deneuve is still very much with us. It's doubtful if Chiara will ever achieve the iconic status of her parents but she gets acting jobs because casting directors and producers know she can deliver rather than because of her genes. An enjoyable romp.