Manuel Pradal Movies

The devastated life of a man haunted by the unsolved murder of his beloved wife is strangely complicated by the mysterious neighbor who loves him from afar in a dark noir thriller directed by Manuel Pradal and starring Norman Reedus, Emmanuelle Béart and Harvey Keitel. Vincent (Reedus)' wife has suffered a most brutal fate, and these days the once happy New Yorker is but a frozen shell of his former self. Vincent is not a man unloved, however, because although he may currently be unaware of her feelings for him, his neighbor Alice (Béart) knows in her heart that she and Vincent were meant to be together. All that needs to happen to make Vincent recognize her love is for the grieving widower to finally be liberated from his tragic past; and Alice is willing to go to any lengths necessary in order to make this happen. If Vincent was finally to find the man responsible for his wife's death, he could finally be free to open his heart to Alice. When Alice hails a cab driven by lonely New York soul Roger (Keitel), the gears of the scheming woman's elaborate plan are slowly set into motion despite the ignorance of both the naïve cabbie, and the somber object of her delusional affections. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Manuel Pradal makes his feature-film debut with this free-form tale of Marie (Vahina Bronchain), a seductive 14-year-old child/woman who works in an American naval base canteen during the 60s. The base is located near an undetermined Mediterranean resort area. When not amusing herself with the occasional sailor, Marie finds herself drawn to the cruel teenage boy Orso, a tough thief who has just robbed a resort so he can buy a gun. Together, Marie and Orso travel to a remote island, but instead of finding paradise, the two find only meaningless violence. There is not much to the story, but what makes this film interesting is Pradal's use of cinematography to create dream-like effects fraught with symbolism. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide