Sombre (1998)

AKA: –
Directed by: Philippe Grandrieux
Starring: Marc Barbé (Jean), Elina Löwensohn (Claire), Géraldine Voillat (Christine)
Country: France, Effed Up European Cinema
Language: French (Eng Subs), Effed Up French Films
Runtime: 01:50:59
Genres: Surreal, Serial Killers, Sexual-Violence against Women, Prostitutes

Plot – Spoilers:
Sombre is only for when you fancy a surreal serial-killer film.

Jean follows the Tour de France and along the way, murders and dumps women, mostly prostitutes, in the vast emptiness that France appears to offer. At some point you wonder, who are all these women who are willing to take long drives in silence with him?

Ever get the feeling, my life is a blur right now? That’s pretty much Jean’s current phase. The first twenty-odd minutes of the film are a blurry, almost metaphorical sketch of his routine, where everything’s a blur. Pick up hookers. Kill them. Suffer the dissatisfaction that follows because it wasn’t clear enough to form a memory. Move on to the next one.

And then Jean sees rain-drenched Claire parked in her broken-down car. She doesn’t seem to fear him and has a certain respectability that makes him vulnerable. She’s not a whore and might even be a virgin. He can’t kill such a woman.

Claire’s sister joins them and seduces the violence out of him, but Claire doesn’t seem to mind, so long as her sister is safe.