Murder in Louisiana
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Murder in Louisiana |
| Original title | In the Electric Mist |
| Country of production |
France USA |
| Publishing year | 2009 |
| length | 117 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Bertrand Tavernier |
| script |
Jerzy Kromolowski Mary Olson-Kromolowski |
| production |
Deborah Dobson Bach Clelio Boccato Frédéric Bourboulon Michael Fitzgerald Penelope Glass Gulnara Sarsenova |
| music | Marco Beltrami |
| camera | Bruno de Keyzer |
| cut |
Thierry Derocles Larry Madaras Roberto Silvi |
| occupation | |
| |
In the Electric Mist is a French-American crime drama by Bertrand Tavernier from the year 2009. The plot is based on the mystery novel in the shade of the mangroves (In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead) by James Lee Burke in 1993. Tommy Lee Jones embodied therein Burke's well-known character Dave Robicheaux from over twenty books .
action
The action takes place in Louisiana in the New Orleans area after Hurricane Katrina , the dramatic consequences of which are repeatedly themed in the film with the help of impressive images of destroyed houses and areas of land and references in the dialogues.
Disaffected, dry alcoholic Dave Robicheaux, a detective in a small district in the state of Louisiana, hunts down a serial killer who has brutally murdered several young prostitutes. On the way back from a body found, Robicheaux stops the Hollywood star Elrod Sykes, who is obviously drunk and who is in the area for filming. He reports to the detective that he saw a corpse in the swamps, the partially decayed body of an African American in chains. The discovery triggers painful memories for Robicheaux of his youth, when he witnessed the murder of a colored man. At the same time, he suspects that the body find could be related to the crime of the time. In the course of the investigation, Robicheaux himself is in danger, as it is becoming apparent that the prostitute killer or his clients are to be found in the circles of powerful and influential local giants who want to silence him. A young prostitute calls Dave and tells him the name of the serial killer. She wants to meet him in a remote bar in the early evening. When she hasn't turned up at midnight, Dave goes out to look for her. As he steps out of the bar, he sees two shots flashing from a car parked opposite the entrance in the dark. He takes cover and fires the entire magazine of his 45 Army Colt (a relic from the Vietnam War) into the car. When he and his colleague Lou, whom he had taken with him to cover the appointment with the prostitute, go to the car, they find the body of the informant there, which was shot with the same caliber as his own weapon. Because there is no firearm in the car and no impacts can be seen in the house wall, Dave cannot prove self-defense and is suspended from duty. Gradually, however, a series of pieces of evidence (e.g. the remains of blank cartridges in the car that was supposedly fired from) reveal that he is innocent. When it turns out that the informant was already dead when she was put in the car, Dave is finally completely exonerated. Dave resumes the investigation and with the help of FBI officer Rosie Gomez, he tracks down the serial killer who has committed 17 murders of young women over the years. When the serial killer realizes that the noose is tightening, he kidnaps Dave's adopted daughter in order to force the surrender of the only piece of evidence, a knife. Dave and the FBI officer track down the killer, who used to be a cop, in his hiding place in the mangrove forests. When they search the spacious hiding place, the killer suddenly breaks through a door, the FBI agent kills him with targeted shots, and they can free Dave's adopted daughter unharmed.
In the end, Dave Robicheaux arrests Twinky LeMoyne, an influential local entrepreneur who over forty years ago, together with the killer, committed the murder of the African American whose body had previously appeared in the swamp.
The film is also charged with mystery elements, as Dave Robicheaux repeatedly has hallucinatory encounters with the Confederate General John Bell Hood from the Civil War . The film also addresses the racism against African Americans that still exists in the US southern states . Sporadically recorded voiceovers by Robicheaux are reminiscent of the linguistic means of the underlying novel by James Lee Burke.
Soundtrack
Theme music: La terre tremblante by Dirk Powell
Reviews
Lutz Granert writes on MovieMaze: “Although stars like Tommy Lee Jones ( In the Valley of Elah ) and John Goodman ( The Popess ) are involved in this thriller drama,“ In the Electric Mist - Murder in Louisiana ”starts in Germany after its premiere at the Berlinale but only on DVD. The reasons are a watered-down script and a discontinuously told thriller story that is very protracted. "
Awards
The film took part in the Berlinale 2009 as a competition entry.
Web links
- In the Electric Mist in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- In the Electric Mist with Rotten Tomatoes (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Certificate of Release for Murder in Louisiana . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , March 2010 (PDF; test number: 121 954 V).
- ↑ Murder in Louisiana. In: kino.de. Retrieved November 21, 2019 .