Barracuda

Barracuda

94 mins | Drama, Thriller | Oct. 29, 1997

This French-German-Belgian thriller, reminiscent of Misery (1990) and The Collector (1965), begins after Fred Astaire-fan Clement (Jean Rochefort) invites comic-book artist Luc (Guillaume Canet) to Sunday dinner with Clement and his wife Violette. Luc's girlfriend Margot announces her pregnancy, prompting Luc to forget about the invitation, but Clement insists that Luc join him. After Luc arrives and sees that Violette is only a life-size plastic doll, he decides to leave but gets clobbered on the head. Awakening, he finds he's been handcuffed to the bathroom sink and gagged. Cruelties ensue, with crazed Clement getting visionary advice from both Astaire and Violette. Award-winning composer-arranger-orchestrator Philippe Haim made his feature directorial debut with this drama, and music is very much a part of the film from Haim's score and music-box melodies to tap dancing, honky-tonk piano, and a full musical comedy production number.

Barracuda

94 mins | Drama, Thriller | Oct. 29, 1997

Barracuda
This French-German-Belgian thriller, reminiscent of Misery (1990) and The Collector (1965), begins after Fred Astaire-fan Clement (Jean Rochefort) invites comic-book artist Luc (Guillaume Canet) to Sunday dinner with Clement and his wife Violette. Luc's girlfriend Margot announces her pregnancy, prompting Luc to forget about the invitation, but Clement insists that Luc join him. After Luc arrives and sees that Violette is only a life-size plastic doll, he decides to leave but gets clobbered on the head. Awakening, he finds he's been handcuffed to the bathroom sink and gagged. Cruelties ensue, with crazed Clement getting visionary advice from both Astaire and Violette. Award-winning composer-arranger-orchestrator Philippe Haim made his feature directorial debut with this drama, and music is very much a part of the film from Haim's score and music-box melodies to tap dancing, honky-tonk piano, and a full musical comedy production number.
IMDb rating 6.6
Producers Canal+, Eurimages
Original title Barracuda
Directors Philippe Haïm
Writers Patrick Olivier Meyer, Nicolas Lartigue, Marie Krüger, Philippe Haïm

Cast

Jean Rochefort

as Monsieur Clément

Claire Keim

as Margot

Michel Scourneau

as Hallucination Clément

Rose Thiéry

as Concierge

Cécile Cotte

as Voisine repasseuse

Philippe Lefebvre

as Pierre

Karine Nuris

as Caroline

Marc-André Brunet

as Le chef des pompiers

Franck Stepler

as L'animateur télé

Mariame Kadi

as La chanteuse

Tonio Descanvelle

as Employé EDF

Katia Schuchman

as La voisine du rez-de-chaussée

Daniel Guthmann

as Pompier

Jochen Müller

as Pompier