Tell No One

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Tell No One
French release poster
Directed byGuillaume Canet
Screenplay byGuillaume Canet
Philippe Lefebvre
Produced byLuc Besson
Pierre-Ange Le Pogam
Alain Attal
StarringFrançois Cluzet
Marie-Josée Croze
Marina Hands
Kristin Scott Thomas
Nathalie Baye
CinematographyChristophe Offenstein
Edited byHervé de Luze
Music byMatthieu Chedid
Production
companies
Distributed byEuropaCorp. Distribution (France)
Music Box Films (US)
Release date
  • 1 November 2006 (2006-11-01) (France)
Running time
131 minutes [1]
CountryTemplate:Film France
LanguageFrench
Budget€11.7 million
Box office$33,385,185[2]

Tell No One (French: Ne le dis à personne) is a 2006 French thriller film directed by Guillaume Canet and based on the novel of the same name by Harlan Coben. Written by Canet and Philippe Lefèbvre and starring François Cluzet, the film won four categories at the 2007 César Awards in France: Best Director (Guillaume Canet), Best Actor (François Cluzet), Best Editing and Best Music Written for a Film.

Plot

Alexandre Beck is a doctor who has slowly been putting his life back together after his wife Margot was murdered by a serial killer. Eight years on, Alex is doing well, until he finds himself implicated in a double homicide, which has plenty of evidence pointing to him as the killer - though he knows nothing of the crimes. The same day, Alex receives an e-mail that appears to be from Margot, which includes a link to a surveillance video clip that features his late wife looking alive and well. The message warns Alex that they are both being watched. He struggles to stay one step ahead of the law, while a gang of henchmen intimidate Alex's friends into telling them whatever they might know about him - the henchmen eventually kill one of them, Charlotte. In the meantime, Alex's sister Anne persuades her well-off wife Hélène to hire a respected attorney, Élisabeth Feldman, to handle Alex's case.

It is gradually revealed that Margot is apparently still alive. She attempts to arrange a meeting with Alex by sending him an email which he must read in an internet cafe to avoid being spied on. Before this meeting, a warrant is issued for Alex's arrest for the murder of Charlotte. He goes on the run whilst his friends and lawyers struggle to find out the truth about the murder, as well as Margot's reappearance. Alex, chased by policemen, is rescued by Bruno, a gangster from a rough part of the city who feels he owes Alex a favor. The mysterious henchmen reappear to prevent Alex's meeting with his late wife, but he is rescued once again by Bruno. Margot is seen almost escaping on a flight to Buenos Aires. Elizabeth, the lawyer, proves that Alex has an alibi for the murder of Charlotte, thanks to eyewitness accounts at the internet cafe.

Alex noted the numerous mysteries about his wife's death - mysterious photos of her covered in bruises and traces of heroin in her body. He soon discovers the truth that Margot's father faked his daughter's death. Margot had discovered that Philippe Neuville, a rich young son of a local millionaire, was a pedophile rapist whose activities were being hidden because his father had influence over the police; when she confronted him, Philippe beat her up, causing the bruises. Her father explains that he walked in on the beating and shot Philippe. He then hired thugs to fake Margot's murder, shot them, and used the body of a dead heroin addict to stand in for Margot's. Police, listening in on the father's confession, attempt to arrest him. However, Margot's father shoots himself dead.

In a final twist, it is then revealed that Margot's father knew Alex was wearing a wire, and that during a moment in which he had blocked the bug's transmission he had told Alex one last thing: it was in fact Margot who shot Philippe after he beat her; her father was covering up her crime, not his. His actions however have ensured that she will never be suspected. The film's final sequence shows Philippe's father being arrested, and Alex and Margot reuniting at the lake where they fell in love as children.

Cast

Production

The script made several alterations to the book; a torture expert changed from an Asian male to a white female, and the identity of the killer was switched. The book's author was quoted in an interview that the film's ending was better than his original ending.[3]

Reception

Tell No One was extremely well received both critically and commercially.

Academy Award-winning British actor Michael Caine said of the film it was the best he had seen in 2007 on the BBC's Film 2007 programme. He also included it among his Top Ten movies of all time in his 2010 autobiography, The Elephant to Hollywood.

Critical reception

As of August 12, 2010, Tell No One has a Tomatometer "Certified Fresh" rating of 93% and a 96% rating amongst top critics on Rotten Tomatoes,[4] As well as a score of 82 on Metacritic, signaling "universal acclaim".[5]

Box office performance

The film generated $17 million in ticket sales during its first four weeks at the French box office.[6]

Top ten lists

The film appeared on many critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2008.[7]

American adaptation

Miramax and Focus have bought the rights for an English language remake, which will be produced by Kathleen Kennedy and has a tentative date of 2011 for the beginning of principal photography.[8]

References

  1. ^ "NE LE DIS A PERSONNE - TELL NO ONE (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 2007-04-27. Retrieved 2012-01-01.
  2. ^ "Tell No One (2008)". Box Office Mojo. 2009-02-08. Retrieved 2010-12-23.
  3. ^ Saner, Emine (June 18, 2007). "The Guardian". London. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
  4. ^ "Rotten Tomatoes".
  5. ^ "Metacritic".
  6. ^ "Channel Four".
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Metacritic: 2008 Film Critic Top Ten Lists". Metacritic. Retrieved January 11, 2009. [dead link]
  8. ^ McNary, Dave; Jaafar, Ali (2009-04-29). "Miramax, Focus to 'Tell No One'". Variety. Retrieved 2009-05-26.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tell_No_One&oldid=494334431"