Set in the lower echelons of 1860s Paris, Therese Raquin, a sexually repressed, beautiful young woman, is trapped into a loveless marriage to her sickly cousin, Camille, by her domineering aunt, Madame Raquin. Therese spends her days confined behind the counter of a small shop and her evenings watching Madame play dominoes with an eclectic group. After she meets her husband’s alluring friend, Laurent, she embarks on an illicit affair that leads to tragic consequences.
THE MOVIESet in 19th century France, Madame Raquin (Jessica Lange) is charged with the care of her young niece Thérèse (Lily Laight/Elizabeth Olsen). Thérèse is raised alongside her sickly cousin Camille (Tom Felton). Upon reaching adulthood, Thérèse is placed into an arranged marriage with her cousin (yeah, those crazy French bastards, eh?) before the whole family moves to Paris to run a business together.
I am unsure what this shop actually sells; misery and gloom perhaps? There they encounter Laurent (Oscar Isaac), a part time artist and friend of the family. Stuck in a loveless marriage with a frail, timid man, Thérèse falls for the charms of Laurent and soon their affair escalates before taking a more sinister turn with the murder of Camille. The tale continues as the lovers strive to cover up their actions, brood a lot about killing Camille (who would probably have died before the year was out anyway), try to find a way to be together in public and also avoid the increasing craziness of the grieving Madame Raquin.
Adultery, murder and marriages are topics ripe for exploitation in any film but this is a stodgy, uninspired affair. At times it feels like it is meandering into a gloomy soap opera, each party living such a tedious life it is hard to engage, root for or even castigate any of the characters. The film feels small scale. If it does so intentionally to force intimacy or intensity, all it does is give the film a claustrophobic feel. This is compounded by the palette of the movie, largely being muted browns and greens. It is only after the murder is committed that the film begins to engage the viewer. Previously dull and murky palettes get a splash of red, the torment of their actions rouse the cast from their stupor but this is merely a contrast to the dull first half rather than an escalation to a level of higher quality.
So why my interest in looking over this disc? Well, two of the stars are of note due to both past and upcoming work. Oscar Isaac starred in one of the best films of last year, Inside Llewyn Davis, and was recently announced as part of the cast for Star Wars VII. Olsen turned in a fabulous performance Martha Marcy May Marlene and will be seen in the upcoming Avengers 2: Age of Ultron. Sadly, Olsen disappoints. When she isn’t engaged in ‘coupling’ with Laurent, there is no real emotion conveyed, like a switch has been flicked off. Isaac isn’t particularly smouldering or alluring, but in comparison to the witless, wet Camille (Draco Malfoy in all his splendor) I can see why Thérèse fell for him. Isaac does do well later on, showing the struggles of concealing his actions and growing conflict and guilt with Thérèse, but it is too little too late. The one person who perhaps understood the soap opera content of this tale and acts accordingly is Jessica Lange (American Horror Story, The Postman Always Rings Twice). Her Madame Raquin treads a fine line between proper and manic. An overprotective mother cranked up to eleven but delivering a real tangible sense of anguish throughout. At a later point in the film she does suffer a stroke, leaving her unable to speak or move. Even with Lange going “Full My Left Foot“, she is the best thing to watch in the film. There are a host of other noticeable faces in the background, Matt Lucas (Little Britain, Alice In Wonderland), Mackenzie Crook (Pirates of the Caribbean, The Office UK) and Shirley Henderson (Harry Potter) but it’s a case of bland on bland so you probably won’t even notice.
THE PACKAGEThe DVD includes a digital Ultraviolet copy. The image is adequate, the setting is a murkily imagined Paris and features a dark, murky palette. Some interior scenes are a little hard to make out but this just isn’t a crisp, well defined film. Special features wise, there is a audio commentary with the Director and producers as well as a host of deleted scenes that do little to improve the film.
Overall, a disappointment. A small budget is no excuse for such a claustrophobic and bland venture or lackluster performances. In Secret is based on the 1867 Emile Zola book “Thérèse Raquin”. I have never read it but the whole film does have the feel of a dry, stuffy novel that you are required to read in school. It’s hardly original and there is nothing in the performances (Lange aside) to elevate it. South-Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook apparently drew from this novel when making his Vampiric treat, Thirst. I would suggest fans of the book look into that endeavor to watch something with a little more teeth.
