Le tueur

When Kopas steps into the office of the financial investor Zimmerman, the latter already knows the reason why. Zimmerman is the unhappily married but adoring father of an eight-year-old daughter. He’s involved in murky business with his partner, whom he knows is chatting up his wife behind his back. The viewer never finds out what kind of transactions are involved, but Zimmerman has to be put out of action and that is why Kopas is here. Zimmerman tries to make a deal with his murderer, because he needs a couple more days.
The Killer is an ingenious character study of a murderer and a victim up to the decisive moment. The nervous businessmen, restless in everything, but determined in his aims, contrasts with the cold-blooded Kopas. But their pact changes the men for ever. In his first full-length feature, Cédric Anger chooses two powerful characters who move in a bare area just outside picturesque Parisian boulevards, on the edge of the Chinese district. The young escort girl Stella is their sidekick. The film develops into a minimalist but stylish thriller that, despite Kopas’ unrelenting nature, still gets a ‘human’ ending. It is Christmas Eve, after all.

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