'In the Name of My Daughter' has its true-crime fascinations
Set in the casino culture of the French Riviera in the 1970s, Andr茅 T茅chin茅鈥檚 鈥淚n the Name of My Daughter鈥� has a glossy, burnished look that can only mean one thing: Something sordid lurks beneath.聽
The film is based on a notorious case, the Affaire Le Roux, in which Agn猫s (Ad猫le Haenel), heiress to a casino fortune, fell for Maurice Agnelet (Guillaume Canet), the lawyer for her casino-running mother, Ren茅e Le Roux (Catherine Deneuve). Against the wishes of Ren茅e, a widow who fears a takeover by a mafia kingpin (Jean Corso), Agn猫s, recently divorced and footloose, wants to sell her shares in the Palais de la M茅diterran茅e in Nice and live independently.
Rebuffed by Ren茅e when she turns him down as managing director, Maurice engineers Agn猫s鈥檚 departure, wresting control of her money and adding her to his string of mistresses. She disappeared in 1977 and a court ultimately ruled Maurice was responsible.
This is T茅chin茅鈥檚 seventh film featuring Deneuve, and it鈥檚 not one of the better ones. (The best is probably 1986鈥檚 鈥淪cene of the Crime.鈥�) Still, it has its true-crime fascinations, and, until its misbegotten 30-year flash-forward to Maurice鈥檚 trial, it has a silky allure of sun-kissed depravity. Agn猫s鈥檚 gathering fixation on Maurice, which at first seems like a flirty dalliance, is the film鈥檚 driving force.
It needs that momentum, because T茅chin茅, as usual, has a tendency to let his movies drift into dead-ended marginalia. He鈥檚 making a movie about obsession, but he lacks the obsessive gene. Compare this film with, say, Fran莽ois Truffaut鈥檚 鈥淭he Story of Adele H.鈥� if you want to know the difference between the depiction of a compulsion and the depth-charged exploration of one. 聽
Deneuve, clothed for the most part in high-end outfits that seem more smothering than flattering, gives her role a regal edge. We can see how this proud, inwardly fragile woman might have intimidated Agn猫s into retaliation. What I couldn鈥檛 spot was Maurice鈥檚 charm. The role calls for a slick rou茅 鈥� a much younger Alain Delon would have been perfect 鈥� but Canet is unalluring in every way. I suppose he was trying for a scary, stolid impassiveness, but he just comes across as wooden. Canet鈥檚 performance isn鈥檛 quite as injurious to the movie as, by all rights, it should be, because we can make the leap that Agn猫s, for whatever inchoate reasons, finds Maurice鈥檚 stolidness irresistible. Haenel is a frisky, compelling actress, and she is able to effortlessly span a trajectory of moods from beguiled to deranged. There鈥檚 a startling sequence in Agn猫s鈥檚 apartment when she performs an African dance for Maurice and she is both seducing him and unraveling in front of his eyes. The scene might have been a great one if Maurice wasn鈥檛 so, well 鈥� wooden. Grade: B- (Rated R for sexuality, nudity, and some language.)
