Blind Man (A l'aveugle) deals with a deranged police inspector named Lassalle (Jacques Gamblin) must solve two grisly killings , as Paris is plagued by a heinous murderer. A young woman is hacked to pieces and Detective Lassalle sees her addicted ex-boyfriend as a serious suspect. When a businessman is blown up by a bomb a day later at a charity auction, Lassalle discovers that the two murders are linked . Initially , Lassalle suspects an ex-boyfriend of one of the targets , but his intelligent sense is soon tingled by a solemn piano tuner named Narvik (Lambert Wilson) , whose lack of sight is made up for by his enhanced senses and quick reflexes . The problem is that his only suspect is a blind man and has alibi enough . The world-weary cop tracks a ruthless, visually handicapped killer resulting in fateful consequences . He's a war veteran who has dark secrets, of course , but this man targeting the detective is blind . Narvik has served as a soldier in Afghanistan and his war past seems to have left a big mark on his life. It's up to Lassalle to uncover this elusive man, but that turns out to be not so easy. At the desk he has poor hearing. Only his young colleague Hëloise (Raphaelle Agogue) supports him, but she is secretly in love with him . Furthermore, Narvik doesn't seem to want to pay for the murders .
'À l'aveugle' (2012), released internationally under the name 'Blind Man', has a lot to offer on an interesting plot , in practice , however, this acceptable but non-notable French thriller arranges to provide little of what promises . In fact, the film has all the trappings for a gripping and nail-biting action thriller, yet winds up being a certified yawner with hardly enough movement or suspense to sustain itself for the long run . Based on an idea by producer Besson himself , the pitch at least intrigues on paper : A series killer is on the loom in Paris, chopping one of his victims to pieces and blowing the other one to bits , along the way launching a tiring cat and mouse game . There are also some geopolitical overtones that should somehow make the story seem less contrived , as well as a ¨Death Wish¨ issue and other ordinary ingredients . A subplot involving a tepid love story between Lassalle and his partner, Heloise , is more of a distraction than an attraction. Adequate interpretation by a nice trio of actors , but none of the roles really rise above stock grade , they're the following ones : Jacques Gamblin as the sleepy-eyed and muffle commandant Lassalle , the unknown but attractive Raphaelle Agogue as his job colleague who falls in love for him and here stands out Lambert Wilson as the ruthless , stiff and never really scary murderous Narvik . Widescreen though dark cinematography by cameraman Michel Amathieu is best when capturing some of the grittier Parisian locations, which are appropriately served by production designer Dan Bevan . This passable French thriller manages to deliver little of what promises but is acceptable enough . Although to be necessary more movement , in fact for a EuropaCorp movie, the pyrotechnics are few and limited and the film contains meager action set pieces.
Produced in short budget Luc Besson approx. 118,000 Euros from financer Luc Besson in his Paris-based mini-major EuropaCorp and in part by Besson's new crowdfunding initiative . Written by expert genre Eric Besnard (Babylon A. D.) and action junky Luc Besson , the latter is always full of ideas . Sometimes the man behind 'Léon' (1994) and 'The Fifth Element' (1997) solves them himself , but it also happens that he gives them away to a colleague . Being hired by Besson , this l'aveugle(2012) or Blind Man was efficiently directed by Xavier Palud (Them, The Eye , Ils , Braquo , XIII series) , though he captures disjoined happenings with little style , panache or acuity . Palud delivers by-the-numbers filmmaking that fails to draw much intrigue out of anything , being especially disappointing in that sense , but it results to be an acceptable and decent French ¨Polar¨thriller . Rating : 5.5/10.
