Tell No One

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This article is about the 2006 French film. For other uses, see Tell No One (disambiguation).
Tell No One
Tell No One (2006).jpg
UK release poster
Directed byGuillaume Canet
Screenplay by
Based onTell No One
by Harlan Coben
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyChristophe Offenstein
Edited byHervé de Luze
Music byMatthieu Chedid
Production
companies
Distributed byEuropaCorp Distribution
Release date
  • 1 November 2006 (2006-11-01) (France)
Running time
131 minutes [1]
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench
Budget$13.5 million [2]
Box office$33.4 million[3]

Tell No One (French: Ne le dis à personne) is a 2006 French neo-noir[4] thriller film directed by Guillaume Canet and based on the 2001 novel of the same name by Harlan Coben. Written by Canet and Philippe Lefebvre and starring François Cluzet, the film won four categories at the 2007 César Awards in France: Best Director (Guillaume Canet), Best Actor (François Cluzet), Best Editing and Best Music Written for a Film.

Plot[]

Eight years since the apparent murder of his wife Margot by a serial killer, Dr. Alexandre Beck has slowly been putting his life back together. However, Alex finds himself implicated in a double homicide – even though he knows nothing of the crimes. The same day, Alex receives an email that appears to be from Margot, which includes a link to surveillance footage that shows his late wife looking alive and well; the message warns Alex that they are both being watched. As Alex struggles to stay one step ahead of the law, henchmen intimidate Alex's acquaintances into telling them whatever they might know about him, eventually killing a friend named Charlotte. In the meantime, Alex's lesbian sister Anne persuades her well-off partner Hélène to hire a respected attorney, Élisabeth Feldman, to handle his case.

Margot attempts to arrange a meeting with Alex by sending him an email that he must read in an internet café to avoid being spied on. Before this meeting can take place, a warrant is issued for Alex's arrest for the murder of Charlotte. Alex goes on the run whilst his friends and lawyers struggle to find out the truth about the murder and Margot's reappearance. As he is being pursued by police officers, Alex is rescued by Bruno, a gangster from a rough part of the city who feels he owes Alex a favor. The mysterious henchmen reappear to prevent Alex's meeting with his wife, but he is rescued once again by Bruno. Margot is seen almost escaping on a flight to Buenos Aires. Élizabeth proves that Alex has an alibi for Charlotte's murder thanks to eyewitness accounts at the internet café.

Alex notes the numerous mysteries about his wife's death – mysterious photos of her covered in bruises and traces of heroin in her body. He soon discovers that Margot's father faked her death: Margot had discovered that Philippe Neuville, the young son of a local aristocrat, was a pedophile rapist whose activities were covered up with help from the police; when she confronted him, Philippe beat her, causing the bruises. Margot's father explains that he walked in on the beating and shot Philippe. The elder Neuville hired thugs to kill Margot; having tapped the phone call, Margot's father doubled the payout for one of the thugs to fake her murder instead, kill the other thug, and knock out Alex in the process. After shooting the second thug and burying both, Margot's father used the body of a dead heroin addict to stand in for Margot's.

Police, listening in on the father's confession, attempt to arrest him, but he shoots himself dead before they can do so. It is revealed that Margot's father knew Alex was wearing a wire, and that during a moment in which he had blocked the bug's transmission had told Alex one last thing: it was in fact Margot who shot Philippe after he beat her; her father was covering up her crime, not his. His actions have ensured that she will never be suspected. Philippe's father is arrested, and Alex and Margot reunite at the lake where they fell in love as children.

Cast[]

Production[]

The script made several alterations to the book; a torture expert changed from an Asian male to a white female, and the identity of the killer was switched. The book's author was quoted in an interview as saying that the film's ending was better than his original ending.[5]

Reception[]

Tell No One was well received both critically and commercially.

Academy Award-winning British actor Michael Caine said of the film it was the best he had seen in 2007 on the BBC's Film 2007 programme. He also included it among his Top Ten movies of all time in his 2010 autobiography, The Elephant to Hollywood.[citation needed]

Critical response[]

Rotten Tomatoes gives Tell No One a "Certified Fresh" rating of 94% based on reviews from 104 critics.[6] Metacritic give the film 82/100 based on reviews from 30 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[7]

Box office[]

The film generated $17 million in ticket sales during its first four weeks at the French box office.[8] In total, the film grossed $22,194,261 in France becoming the 12th highest-grossing film of the year with 3,111,809 tickets sold.[9][10] Music Box Films acquired the rights to the film and gave it a limited theatrical release on July 2, 2008. The film opened in eight theaters grossing $169,707 during its opening weekend.[11] In total, the film grossed $6,177,192 in North America.[12]

The film reached 18.7 million views in Poland within its first five weeks.[13]

Top ten lists[]

The film appeared on many critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2008.[14]

References[]

  1. ^ "Ne le dis à personne: Tell No One (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 2007-04-27. Retrieved 2012-01-01.
  2. ^ "Ne le dis ? personne (Tell No One)". JPBox-Office. 2006.
  3. ^ "Tell No One (2008)". Box Office Mojo. 2009-02-08. Retrieved 2010-12-23.
  4. ^ "Twenty-first century noir". BFI. 2020-11-27. Retrieved 2021-07-19. Tell No One, however, is a different proposition: a noir drenched in sunshine.
  5. ^ Saner, Emine (June 18, 2007). "Tell everyone: Interview with Guillaume Canet, director of 'Tell No One'". The Guardian. London. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
  6. ^ "Rotten Tomatoes".
  7. ^ "Metacritic".
  8. ^ "Channel Four".
  9. ^ "2006 France Yearly Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo.
  10. ^ "Ne le dis à personne (Tell No One) (2006)". JP’s Box-Office (in French).
  11. ^ "Weekend Box Office Results for July 4-6, 2008". Box Office Mojo.
  12. ^ "Tell No One (2008): Weekend Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo.
  13. ^ "Catholic Church: paedophilia scandal dents Poland's faith". June 17, 2019. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
  14. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j "Metacritic: 2008 Film Critic Top Ten Lists". Metacritic. Archived from the original on January 2, 2009. Retrieved January 11, 2009.
  15. ^ The Jeff Buckley version of the song Lilac Wine, from his album Grace (1994), was used as background music in the film.

External links[]

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