Red Lights (2004 film)
| Red Lights | |
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Theatrical Poster
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| Directed by | Cédric Kahn |
| Produced by | Patrick Godeau |
| Screenplay by | Cédric Kahn Laurence Ferreira Barbosa Gilles Marchand |
| Based on |
Feux Rouges by Georges Simenon |
| Starring |
Jean-Pierre Darroussin Carole Bouquet Vincent Deniard |
| Cinematography | Patrick Blossier |
| Edited by | Yan Dedet |
| Distributed by | Bac Films |
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Release date
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Running time
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105 minutes |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
| Budget | €5.3 million |
| Box office | $2.4 million |
Red Lights (French: Feux rouges) is a 2004 French thriller film directed by Cédric Kahn. It was adapted from a 1955 Georges Simenon novel set in the Northeastern United States. The film is set in modern-day France.
The film stars Jean-Pierre Darroussin and Carole Bouquet as married couple Antoine and Hélène Dunan on a road trip to pick up their children and begin a vacation. After a number of arguments the two are separated and each encounters a horror on the road.
One summer mid-afternoon, Antoine (Darroussin) leaves his insurance firm job to meet up with his wife Hélène (Bouquet), as they are to fetch their kids (somewhere distant, but it is not explained as to exactly where they are or who they’re with), and then head on to his in-laws in the ‘Basque Country’ for two weeks vacation, and he wants to beat the traffic (and the two million cars that will be on the road). They arrange to meet at a local bar, but she is late arriving and it gets on his nerves. When she does arrive, it’s clear their relations have been strained for some time.
She wants to go home to shower and have a quick cold dinner, so they do, further frustrating him. They finally get on the road, but after a while the horribly jammed traffic gets to him, and he decides to get off the highway and take ‘the back way’, at least to Tours anyway. He’s tired, but won’t let her drive, and they bicker. He stops several times along the way to grab a drink or two at local bars, while she sits in the car. He becomes slightly inebriated, further causing tension and argument among them. Her breaking point is reached when he stops again, and she threatens to drive on without him, telling him he can take the train and meet up with her later. He takes the car keys and goes into the bar, where, as he drinks, he sees a news item on the TV about a man who has escaped from a nearby prison. When he eventually leaves the bar and returns to his car, Hélène is not there, having left him a note: “I’m taking the train.”
Somewhat frantic, he drives to the train station nearby to look for her, but the last train of the night has left. He drives on to the next train stop, but is delayed along the way at a police check-point, where they’re looking for the escaped convict. After arriving after midnight and twenty-five minutes too late at the train station, he yet again goes into a bar to drown his sorrows. He tries to strike up a conversation with a large, quiet man, who is not particularly interested in chatting and leaves while Antoine is not looking.
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