Hardset. A Murder in Paris

• 2006
• 1 hr 38 mins

• Watchlist

The small-scaled, darkly comic crime thriller Hardset. A Murder in Paris follows the actions perpetrated by Paul (French stand-up comedian Elie Semoun), a divorcée desperate for the money to cover his own alimony dues. When a friend, Daubelle (Philippe Uchan) introduces him to an overbearing loan shark named Sarreby, Paul impulsively whacks the shark over the head, seizes envelopes full of hard cash, and hits the road. However, this most unlikely criminal begins to feel the twitching pangs of guilt, and as he heads to the residence of a new lover, Simone (Ludmila Mikael), he begins sending letters back to Paris that implicate him in Sarreby's death. Philippe Colin (Cine Follies), a film critic turned scenarist and director, wrote and helmed the picture; for the ambience, Collin and production designer Pascal Chatton utilize a mise-en-scène that suggests the mid-1950s.