La classe de neige

Plot synopsis:
La Classe de NeigeA grey Renault is being driven along a highway leading into the mountains. Nicolas (Clement van den Bergh), a boy of about twelve, is sitting in the back seat, napping. On the dashboard are photos of Nicolas, his little brother Tom, and his mother. His father (François Roy) is driving.A teacher, Miss Grimm (Emmanuelle Bercot), is orienting parents, telling them what their children will need for a stay at an outdoor education centre in the mountains. Nicolass parents arrive late, and scoff at the idea of not telephoning their son while he is away. The father reminds everyone of a group of schoolchildren who were recently killed in a horrible bus accident, and asks what guarantee they have that their children will be safe. Miss Grimm says matter-of-factly that there is Nothing. The father announces that he will drive Nicolas himself, claiming that his son arriving in his fathers car will not make him an outcast.On the drive to the class trip, the father offers to stop for gas so that Nicolas will at last have enough redemption points to get the gift he has been eager to have: a flap book of human anatomy. The father asks Nicolas if he feels he deserves it.Nicolas is anxious he might wet the bed. His father expects him to put an undersheet on his bed in front of the other boys, and dismisses his apprehension with: You cant be the only one.Nicolas wakes from a nap when backed-up traffic finally gets to move past a bad road accident. Nicolas stares at the mangled cars, while his father concentrates on driving. Nicolas recalls the family watching on television the gruesome news coverage of the recent bus accident.They arrive at the outdoor education centre, where a class is already in progress. They can see Hodkann, the class tearaway (Lokman Nalcakan), acting up. The father prompts Nicolas for a better kiss good-bye, and parts awkwardly.Miss Grimm has said they will need snow to ski, but that they will have fun in any case. Nicolas recalls a visit to a fun fair six months before. He had wanted to go on a roller coaster, but he needed his father to accompany him. His father had refused to leave the little brother with a stranger who had offered to look after him.On the way to the dorm, Nicolas realizes that he has forgotten to get his bag from the trunk of the car. Miss Grimm elicits that he is worried about wetting the bed and sometimes tries to stay awake to avoid having nightmares. Nicolas again recalls the visit to the fun fair, where his father explains to him that there are very bad people who kidnap children and operate on them in ambulances to acquire human organs to traffic.When the students are asked to loan Nicolas a pair of pyjamas, it is Hodkann who volunteers. Nicolas helps to set tables in the dining hall. He is pretty innocent: he does not understand another boys ribald riddle. Patrick(Yves Verhoeven), one of the centres teachers, gives Nicolas a string bracelet for his good helping. Patrick tells him to make a wish, and that when the bracelet wears out and falls off, his wish will come true.Nicolas recalls doing his homework while his little brother plays on the floor. The father comes in, still dressed in pyjamas though it is bright day, and sits morosely on the bed, and sobs, and draws Nicolas to him. There are recent scars across the inside of the fathers wrist.During dinner, Hodkann talks with Nicolas. It is unusual for Nicolas to be on an outing with them, because the father is so overprotective. Hodkann invites Nicolas to use the empty bunk above his. Hodkann is fascinated that Nicolass father sells artificial legs. He jokes: If I were your dad Id cut off your limbs and use you for demonstration. Nicolas seems to be able to imagine his father could do that.During the night, Nicolas wakes up and checks that his mattress is dry. He dreams that his father returns the next morning, and Hodkann opens the trunk of the car to look at the plastic legs. It turns into a nightmare of masked assassins with assault rifles. They shoot the father, and go through the centre slaughtering the students. Nicolas calmly eats in the middle of all this. The teachers escape to the bus, so only Nicolas can protect his friend. He rescues Hodkann. The assassins carry bodies down to a row of ambulances. Hiding in a dark attic, Nicolas holds Hodkann. Besides gunfire, there is only the sound of piano chords and words of the Agnus Dei of Rossinis Petite Messe Solennelle.The next morning, Miss Grimm calls Nicolass mother to try to contact the father, only to find that he cannot be reached when he is on the road. She had expected the father to show up with the bag of clothes. She tells Nicolas not to worry about him. Nicolas fantasizes that the television shows his fathers car swerving off the road and crashing. He looks almost pleased. He continues to fantasize that Miss Grimm caresses, kisses, and comforts him while Hodkann peers through the door approvingly.Nicolas goes with teacher Patrick to buy some clothes. He starts to get in the rear seat, but Patrick says, Hey Im not your chauffer! Nicolas has more gruesome daydreams about his father being in a car crash. He asks Patrick: If you think hard about something, can it really happen?Patrick is easy-going and cheerful, and Nicolas enjoys the shopping trip. He smiles for the first time. On the way back, Patrick asks: Apart from worrying, what do you do? Besides television and Gameboy, Nicolas likes to read fairytales. His favourite story is The Little Mermaid, whose scales turn to soft skin, but who loses her beautiful voice. Patrick calls Nicolas a dreamer.Patrick leads relaxation exercises for the students, asking the students not to think of anything. Were always busy doing things, thinking about things, he says. But Nicolas cant stop thinking. Patrick says: Well get to know our selves, our bodies. For Nicolas, body awareness is nightmarish. He imagines opening the flap in his anatomy booklet to see a real, pulsating internal organ, and imagines the heart beating in his chest. He turns Patricks directions about breathing slowly into nightmares of not being able to blow into a spirometer, of gasping, of his father pushing him into a swimming pool, where he flails in terror. He only relaxes when Patrick presses fingertips on his chest and repeats directly to him: Slowly.Dorm highjinks reveal an appendix scar on a boys buttock, which is viewed with scepticism because normally the scar would not be on the back. This is precisely the kind of scar Nicolass father had described being found on a boy whose kidney was stolen.Nicolas wakes again during the night and checks his mattress. He dreams of riding the roller-coaster with Hodkann, and seeing the man at the midway lead his little brother Tom away towards a waiting ambulance. But the nightmare turns to the thrill of enjoying the exciting ride, and he wakes up to find he has had a wet dream.Nicolas goes down to the kitchen to wipe off his pyjamas. On his way back, he sees that it is snowing. He goes outside, and gets locked out. He gets into Patricks car and wraps up in a blanket. He dreams of Patrick finding him frozen the next morning, of his funeral, and of waking up inside a glass-topped coffin. The Rossini Agnus Dei plays again.Patrick finds Nicolas while it is still dark, as Nicolas wakens from his nightmare. Patrick carries Nicolas back to the dorms. There is an aerial shot of snow-covered forest, and the piano chords from the Agnus Dei play again. There is a dissolve to the following morning.Nicolas has a temperature, and is resting in the office. Miss Grimm is speaking to the mother on the phone, only to learn that the father hasnt been heard from, which she calls strange. She assumes Nicolas had been sleepwalking, but the mother doesnt think it is serious. Nicolas does not want to talk to his mother. He asks Miss Grimm if a sleepwalker can be deemed guilty if they do something bad. Nicolas is thinking about his nocturnal emission, but Miss Grimm assumes Nicolas is worried that his father has had an accident. She jokingly says, Maybe you dont want him back. Nicolas seems to have a tranquil look.Nicolas can hear a language lesson going on in the next room, while he lies in bed. He recalls taking a book from his parents bedroom and reading the story The Monkeys Paw. He imagines his parents acting out the story, finally ending with his father stomping on his severed hand, shouting the final wish: Make him die forever!Hodkann is fascinated by the idea of sleepwalking, and wants to know all about it. Nicolas strings a tale of seeing organ traffickers outside and following them.The next day, the students go skiing. Nicolas sits in the ski lodge with some comic books, and sees the police arrive to inquire about a local boy, René, missing for two days. Nicolas asks for a copy of the poster, saying: I disappeared two days ago, too.Hodkann asks Nicolas about the police. That night, Nicolas elaborates his story of kidnappers and organ traffickers. He says he is helping his father settle the score for the theft of his little brothers kidney. Hodkann is sure the father is in danger, but Nicolas swears him to secrecy.On the bus to the next days skiing, Nicolas and Hodkann are both very sombre, while all the other students sing joyfully. When they arrive at the ski hill, however, there are police on the scene. Patrick learns that the body of René had been found about 180km awayin another region. The police are heard mentioning that a grey Renault was seen. The teachers suggest that the students pray. Nicolas prays, and recalls praying alongside his mother.The teachers are upset. Miss Grimm cannot teach her math lesson. They do their best to quell morbid talk and maintain calm. They distract the students with a dance that evening. While he dances, Nicolas visualizes a spinning drive shaft on his fathers car propelling it relentlessly along the road. The police arrive to ask the teachers if they can recall anything useful. Nicolas sees Hodkann sneak outside.That night, Hodkann explains to Nicolas that he had overheard the police ask the teachers about a grey Renault. He had gone out to meet the police, because Miss Grimm had failed to tell them that Nicolass father had a grey Renault. He is convinced that he needed to tell them so they could protect Nicolass father from the organ traffickers. Nicolas knows his father may be in deep trouble because of his story, or that he himself will be in deep trouble because his story has misled the police, and he faints.The next morning, the doctor says that Nicolas is reacting to the news of the murder, and that it is a cry for help. He is seeking attention from his mother because he did not get enough love or attention from her. He advises that Nicolas and Miss Grimm should both rest, so they stay behind while the others go off skiing.Miss Grimm takes a phone call concerning Nicolas. Seen indistinctly through the pebble glass of the office, Miss Grimm is very upset by the call. The Rossini Agnus Dei plays. When Patrick returns with the other students, he and Miss Grimm have a serious conversation. When he comes out of the office, he tells Nicolas that there is a problem at home, and that he will take Nicolas back the next day. Nicolas descends the stairs in a daze as the other students stream past back up to the dorms.Patrick gives Nicolas part of a sleeping pill so he will sleep soundly.Before leaving, Patrick talks with the teaching assistant about who will tell him, and they decide his mother can: She mustve expected it. The father was in trouble two years ago. An ugly situation.Patricks car speeds away down the road.Eating breakfast beside Nicolass empty place setting, Hodkann is told to go see Miss Grimm.In Patricks car, Nicolas is silent, looking resigned.Miss Grimm tells Hodkann she has something to tell him.At a rest stop, Nicolas catches sight of his father arrested on TV. He realizes that it is not himself who is in trouble, but his father. He watches his father with what appears to be pity. The piano chords of the Agnus Dei play. As he waits for his drink, he watches a beautiful mother cooing and playing with her baby lying on a change table. Nicolas,s tense face relaxes a little, and he and the mother exchange little smiles. Nicolas fantacizes about walking up behind the mother and reaching out to touch her hair. The string bracelet falls to the floor.Patrick tells Nicolas he will take him to his door, but say good-bye in the car. The piano chords of the Agnus Dei play as they walk down the hallway of the apartment building. Nicolas reaches up to ring the doorbell.Hodkann is staring at the television in the teachers office. He sees the footage of Nicolass father in police custody, his head being covered by a trench coat. Hodkann looks dismayed, confused, perhaps even in shock. The piano chords of the Agnus Dei begin again.The credits roll over an aerial shot of snow-covered forest, and the whole Rossini Agnus Dei continues Lamb of God, have mercy on us reaching the closing phrase Dona nobis pacemGrant us your peace.

Tags: fantasy, murder, sadist, violence, haunting, flashback, romantic, storytelling

Review:
Simply ,"la classe de neige" is Claude Miller's best work since "la meilleure façon de marcher" (1975,his debut).These works comprise intriguing similarities: both take place in a children community.The first movie,which featured the excellent Patrick Bouchitey and Patrick Dewaere,focused on two camp counselors ,and the dark side of their minds .Bouchitey's devils only woke up at night ,when he dressed up as a woman.His relationship with Dewaere was frighteningly intense and culminated in a violent scene in which the transvestite forced his pal to dance.Miller's sophomore effort "dites-lui que je l'aime" tackled deviancy again but he cheapened Patricia Highsmith's first-class thriller.Since,Miller made quite entertaining works ("garde à vue" which was remade as "under suspicion" ),endearing ones ("l'effrontée") ,and also pretentious ones ("mortelle randonnée" which was remade too).But he was never again able to equal his sensational first work,which seems as strong as it was a quarter of century ago.But in 1998,he really outdid himself,and gave a stunning work ,the first to be on a par with "la meilleure façon de marcher".Should you give another title to "la classe de neige'" ,it could be " cries and whispers" .The title is incredibly trite "skiing with the school" and reveals none of the horrors the movie depicts.Nicolas is a perturbed child probably because he's poisoned with protection by an omnipresent father;but it's not that much simple: the scene at the swimming pool shows another side of this monstrous daddy.The parents ' gathering before the class leaves for the mountains is realist to the core:I organized myself a lot of "classes de neige" and I can say I've met a lot of parents who fret about their dear little ones .Sometimes they refuse to sever the umbilical cord and the child -most of the time very disappointed- stays home.Whispers:Nicolas lives in his own world where his demons never leaves him alone.His only moments of peace occur when he confides to his teacher,Miss Grimm (what a name!)-see how he refuses to talk to his mother on the phone -,or to the young man to whom he says :"when you think too hard about something,does IT happen"?,scary ,isn't it?).He finds a pal but the secrets he exchanges with him are so morbid and so terrifying it cannot bring him any help.Most of the time,the adults whisper behind closed doors,the gendarmes outside the bus,the teachers in their office.Cries:we never see Nicolas scream, or even cry.His mind creates monsters ,at night when his nightmares come to visit him -these scenes make the audience think of an horror movie,which Claude Miller's work is not.He managed to blend dream and reality in such a subtle way that it's sometimes hard to tell them apart;take the central scene which climaxes the movie:Nicholas is out in the cold ,the snow's falling,and he cannot open the house's door.Then begins a series of dreams which show a child's fear of dying as never before.In the daylight,terrors do not fade away:Nicolas turns the TV screen into a mirror of his own horrible visions-this is not as strong as the nightmares scenes ,though,since this device has been used before-.Claude Miller does not do what the audience expects:a Hollywoodian treatment would have solved the problems ,with a family happy again and plenty of violins in the background.There's an extremely moving scene :on the highway,in the restaurant ,the boy sees a young mom change her baby's diaper,then the proud couple leaves the place,as Nicolas' s eyes catch what happiness may look like.The ending will leave you completely numb:you are in front of a huge hole ,you do not know exactly what happened .It's perhaps even worse than you think it is.A black fairy tale revisited by Bruno Bettelheim,a psychological drama, a thriller,"la classe de neige" is all this and so much more.Emmanuel Carrière's eponymous book is highly recommended..
Screenplay coauthored by Miller and Emmanuel Carrière from the latter's successful and disquieting little mystery-thriller novel about an overprotected, highly sensitive boy whose dreams and fantasies of danger while on a stay in the mountains with his school may or may not presage real events.
Such a movie has plusses and minuses: it allows the filmmakers to bring the feverish visions of young Nicolas (Clément ven den Bergh) to vivid life, but it somewhat undermines the sense of uncertainty about what is real or imagined that makes the book effective.
Beautifully done with excellent restraint, true to the book's muted style, a minor triumph for the underwhelming Miller, whose last admired film was The Little Thief/La petite voleuse with Charlotte Gainsbourg in 1988.
The humor is dark humor (very dark), but there's a good bit of it, as when Nicolas imagines making out with the teacher and when the hooded terrorists swarm over the school mowing everybody down with machine guns while Nicolas calmly eats food the other kids have left behind in panic.
In this TV movie Nicolas has an over-protective father who will not allow his son to ride on the school bus on their holiday excursion to the mountains.
Nicolas being a sensitive child elaborates on his father's fears and has regular bouts of day-dreaming as well as horrific nightmares.
Nicolas also reads horror stories at bed-time.
Nicolas asks his tutor if it is possible to make things happen just by thinking hard enough about them.
This theme is pursued in many scenes where Nicolas manipulates scenes on the television screen e.g. he imagines his father in an automobile accident.
I have the feeling that Nicolas is a really mixed up kid and his psychological problems result in worrying bed-wettings.
Clement van der Bergh with his sad and unsmiling face is admirable as young Nicolas, and in contrast we have his happy-go-lucky friend Hodkann in constant awe of Nicolas's imaginative stories.
The casting is as well crafted as the direction, performances and music; as soon as we see him we know that Nicolas is a shy, sensitive boy and that such physical and psychological changes which happen at his time of life will have melancholy and confusing effect.
We are led in to the mind of Nicolas through the music and the elegant flashback, nightmare and daydream sequences some of which verge on the intensity of the Hitchcock-Dali connection.This is a film of opposites; the new-found friendship between the shy Nicolas and the class rebel and between both of these boys and the sympathetic teachers.
Childhood's End. A very humane and insightful piece of work, this film is really an examination of how a boy escapes the bizarre world that his father has created for him.
Some parts of this film might seem to meander but don't let that put you off this movie - the last few minutes justify waiting through some of the character and plot development in the middle.If anyone likes to discuss this film feel free to mail me, in English or in French..
This is a quite fascinating French movie, that I wouldn't call great but is a throughout good watch nevertheless.Thing that really uplifts this movie is its directing.
The movie at times picks a surreal approach and the story is being told and developed slowly.And while the movie is intriguing to watch throughout, I still wished it had a somewhat better story to work with, or that it got told just a little bit better all.
This doesn't really ruin the movie or anything and it's still a good and intriguing watch but I feel that with some more story and some better development this could had been a so much better and more memorable, unique little film.
It's one that tells the story from the perspective of a young boy but I really wouldn't call this a children's movie.
It's also not really a coming of age flick and its more being a drama-thriller, told from the mind and viewpoint of a child, which still leaves the question to what audience this movie is aimed to.
The movie doesn't feature the best acting I have ever seen in a French movie and I actually thought at first that this was one of those movies that used non-professional actors, to make the movie and story work out more as a realistic one.
Most definitely one of the best movies I've ever seen, a bit on the strange side sometimes, but a very moving film.
Much of the advance publicity for this quiet little slice of a child's life seem as if it's going to be sadism in the school and kids doing cloak and dagger work; neither is really true of this film, although there is a major discovery to be made as the main character (subtly etched by a preteen with an appealing sensitivity) negotiates his way among the strangers he is suddenly stuck with when his parents pop him down in a children's winter camp.The lad has visions, but not without reason, and once seen, all the disparate pieces fit very nicely indeed; there is a fascinating music score that ranges from Rock to Rossini, and if I haven't said a good deal about what happens, it's because what happens to the boy is a mystery: the wish bracelet he wears tells the story.
Using dreams as a means of expressing a character's hidden fears and desires is an old trick, and Claude Miller overdoes it; there are probably more dream sequences than actual events in this movie.
Some of them are startling (one involving a severed talking head, another a machine-gun massacre), but the story is boring (you don't have to be a detective to figure out the truth), and the kid is boring, too, with a fixed stare that never changes throughout the film (though it's probably not his fault, but Miller's).
Child actor Clement Van Den Bergh appears to be on valium throughout the film and displays a kind of passionless zero interest in the events and things going on around him.
He tells Nicolas a gruesome story about organ traffickers to explain why he will not leave the little brother in the care of a stranger.
He should be fascinated by the impending changes of puberty, but he does not understand a classmate's ribald riddle, and he thinks he's done something "very bad" when he has a "wet dream." During a relaxation exercise, "getting to know his body" brings a series of nightmarish thoughts.
Nicolas spends so much time worrying about what terrible things could occur that he has begun to wonder if his "thinking hard" about them can cause them to actually happen.At the outdoor ed.
The nightmare of seeing his little brother kidnapped by organ traffickers turns into a dream of sharing with Hodkann the thrill of the roller coaster.
Nicolas also gets to spend some time with Patrick, a teacher who is easygoing and fun.
Nicolas satisfies that curiosity by spinning a tale of seeing organ traffickers outside, and embellishes it with the claim that his father is tailing them, waiting for an opportunity to "settle the score" of the theft of the little brother's kidney.
The "Agnus Dei" from Rossini's Petite Messe Solonelle, which has been used repeatedly during the film, plays to the end, repeating at last the "Dona nobis pacem," or "Grant us your peace." Nicolas's wish may have been to be rid of his father— a wish Miss Grimm actually suggests, as a joke.
Perhaps his wish was simply to be at peace— free of anxiety and nightmarish thoughts— and he now feels able to cope with his worries and can return home and ring his doorbell and face whatever awaits there.The film ends, though, with Hodkann.
At the end, he is summoned to the teachers' office, and shown the news item of Nicolas's father in police custody.
Nicolas is deeply troubled inside, and the actor has to keep it hidden inside to make it convincing why the kid has a lot of bizarre daydreams and nightmares.
The actor has to make us understand that Nicolas cries for help all the time, but not by his voice or obvious expression, but by something hidden under his expression, something hidden in his eyes, and by his imagination.
I was quite impressed with her talent in the latter part of the movie after the news of the crime starts spreading.The story is really moving, especially when it deals with the growing friendship of the two boys, and the rollercoaster scene is strongly intriguing.
I couldn't guess if the story would turn out to be one of those children films in which everybody understands one another at the end, or if it would belong to a serial-killer genre.
A possessive father objects to having his son Nicolas traveling on the chartered bus that will take his class to the mountains for skiing lessons.
Later, we see Nicolas, his parents and younger brother watching a newscast in which a horrible accident has killed young school children because of a driver that fell asleep at the wheel.As they arrive in the chalet where all Nicolas' classmates are being housed, the father leaves with his son's bag in the trunk of his car, leaving the boy to depend on the kindness of his friends to lend him pajamas to spend the night.
Nicolas also suffers deeply because of his strange relationship with his father.
In the dorm, he becomes friendly with an unruly kid, Hodkann, who is the one that lends him his extra pajama.In flashbacks we see Nicolas with his father and younger brother at an amusement park.
He explains how some evil persons lurk in public places to steal children, as was the case with a small child that was recently found after his disappearance, but without a kidney.Things around the chalet suddenly become menacing when the police comes to inquire about the disappearance of a boy, Rene, who might have encountered foul play.
Nicolas, who has suffered one of his worst nightmares and locked himself out of the dorm by taking refuge in Patrick's car, develops a fever.
When he sees the police arrive at the school his fears suddenly make him realize who might have something to do with Rene's fate.Claude Miller the director of this film is a man that is attracted to themes that involve children in perilous situations.
The film seems to dwell on the mind of Nicolas.
This is a boy that has been traumatized by his monster father in this psychological drama.
There are things that are merely hinted at, such as the incestuous relationship between father and son.In Nicolas mind some of the horror he experiences take a sexual nature, like in the night when instead of urination, the boy experiences his first orgasm, which totally confuses him.
Our subconscious world's still a scientific mystery and sometimes we think we have some answers to our dreams, and our nightmares but we don't.
"La Classe DE Neige" (or "Class Trip") is all about dreams, nightmares, dreams capes and dangerous thoughts that may become reality.Nicolas (Clément van den Bergh) is a 12 year-old and extremely shy boy that is sent to a Class Trip in the France country side.
His father (François Roy) doesn't allow him to go to the trip in the same bus where the other boys go fearing an accident because something similar happened a few days earlier.
Nicolas have several nightmares and not only sleeping, sometimes he has some flashes of terrible happenings just looking to some person or watching the news on TV.
His nightmares are very awkward, almost all of them related to his father, whether him suffering an car accident or Nicholas being keep apart from his dad while playing at the park.
To help him during these hard times Nicolas got the support of the teachers (played by Yves Verhoeven and Emmanuelle Bercot) and Hodkann, who seems interested in all the things that happen with Nicolas.
One day after locked himself out of the camp house (he lied to his teachers saying that he's sleep-walker) Nicolas tells Hodkann what's happening saying that his father is a detective investigating the kidnap of children that has their organs removed.
Writer and Director Claude Miller made a great film here but something could be more developed, more mystery could be added and the ending doesn't explain the nightmares, and not even if some of the Nicolas thoughts were real or not.
That scene is never explained if he's cruel father did that to him or if it's just another dream.
Another thing that bothered me was the flashback during a moment with Nicolas, his brother and his father in a park.
This was very good, it give suspense and weirdness to the movie but their appearances doesn't explain a single thing and leaves the audience with questions that might sound useless to the story.
Why he kissed the female teacher in that way after knowing that his father died in the dream?
(there's a few undertones here: in his dreams Hodkann appears behind him in the roller-coaster, smiling while Nicolas father is kidnapped; and in his first nightmare, look the way the hands touches when Nicolas saves Hodkann from the terrorists).
Anyway, I got the feeling that this movie pointed in so many directions and in the end the mystery was not much interesting, doesn't have a big plot twist.
The boy that plays Nicolas has a incredible performance.
He made of Nicolas a unique character, very original not only in its terrifying nightmares but in the quiet moments too (his conversation with the teacher about the Little Mermaid is one the best scenes of the movie).
It wasn't focused in the relationship between all the kids and/or they being cruel to Nicolas because he's a little different of the other kids, something that doesn't happen in Americans film.
It didn't need to show cruel acts towards a kid, it followed in other way, showing that friendship is possible between different people and different behavior.Enjoy the mystery, the story and the great credit opening that resembles "Frantic" directed by Roman Polanski.