The chill doesn't always come from flickering gaslights or things that go bump in the night. Sometimes, it seeps in through the cracks of ordinary life, lodging itself deep under your skin. It’s the chill of recognizing the void staring back from seemingly normal eyes, the terrifying ease with which youthful dreams curdle into something monstrous. Bertrand Tavernier's Golden Bear-winning Fresh Bait (1995), or L'Appât as it stalked the shelves in its native France, delivers exactly that kind of cold, hard dread. Forget jump scares; this is the slow, creeping horror of banal evil, rooted terrifyingly in reality.
Parisian Dreams, Suburban Nightmares
We meet Nathalie (Marie Gillain), Eric (Olivier Sitruk), and Bruno (Bruno Putzulu). They're young, adrift in a grey, indifferent Paris, dreaming of escaping to America to launch a fashion line – a goal shimmering with the naive gloss of MTV aspirations. They crave wealth, excitement, something more than their drab surroundings offer. The problem? Money. Their solution is chillingly simple: Nathalie, radiating an unsettling blend of innocence and calculation, will act as the 'bait', luring wealthy men back to secluded apartments. Once there, Eric and Bruno will rob them. It sounds like a clumsy, desperate plan hatched by bored kids. But the casual cruelty simmering beneath the surface quickly hints at the darkness ahead. This isn't a heist caper; it's a descent.
The Unblinking Eye
Bertrand Tavernier, a master craftsman known for films like 'Round Midnight (1986) and Life and Nothing But (1989), directs with a detached, almost documentary-like precision. There’s no stylistic flourish to glamorize the violence or romanticize the perpetrators. He simply observes, letting the grim reality unfold. The camera often lingers, forcing us to confront the awkwardness, the fumbling incompetence, and eventually, the shocking brutality of their actions. It’s this unflinching gaze that makes Fresh Bait so profoundly disturbing. Tavernier specifically sought out young, relatively unknown actors – Marie Gillain was just breaking through – to amplify this sense of unvarnished realism, a choice that paid off spectacularly, lending an authenticity that seasoned stars might have struggled to capture.
That Girl Next Door
The performances are key to the film's chilling power. Olivier Sitruk and Bruno Putzulu effectively portray the volatile mix of youthful bravado and underlying inadequacy that fuels their characters' actions. But it's Marie Gillain as Nathalie who truly haunts. She embodies the film’s central paradox: the pretty, seemingly harmless girl who facilitates horrific acts with an almost unnerving detachment. Is she naive? Manipulative? A victim of her circumstances or a willing participant? Gillain keeps you guessing, her performance capturing the frightening emptiness at the heart of their misguided quest. It’s a star-making turn, raw and unforgettable. Remember seeing her face on that VHS box, deceptively innocent?
The Shadow of Truth
What elevates Fresh Bait beyond a standard crime drama is its grounding in cold, hard fact. This isn't just fiction; it's ripped straight from the headlines. The film is based directly on the notorious 1984 Paris crime spree of Valérie Subra, Laurent Hattab, and Jean-Rémi Sarraud, whose similar 'honey trap' robberies escalated into murder. Knowing this casts a pall over the entire film. Tavernier isn't just crafting a narrative; he's excavating a real-life horror, exploring the societal factors and moral vacuum that could lead affluent, seemingly ordinary teenagers down such a path. This "dark legend" isn't folklore; it's recent history, and the film sparked considerable debate in France upon release for its stark portrayal. Tavernier reportedly immersed himself in interviews with youths to understand their mindset, seeking not to excuse, but to comprehend the chilling reality.
A Bleak Beauty
Despite the grim subject matter, there’s a stark beauty to the film's visual language. Shot on location, it captures a Paris far removed from tourist postcards – desolate housing projects, sterile apartments, lonely streets under cold winter light. The cinematography emphasizes the characters' isolation and the bleakness of their environment. There's no soaring score dictating emotion, only the uncomfortable sounds of reality – muffled conversations, sudden violence, the chilling silence that follows. It feels authentic to the mid-90s independent cinema scene, a world away from Hollywood gloss. This was the kind of challenging European film you might discover tucked away in the 'World Cinema' section of a good video store, the kind that lingered long after the tape ejected.
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Rating: 8/10
Fresh Bait isn't an easy watch, nor is it meant to be. It’s a stark, powerful, and deeply unsettling examination of youthful disillusionment curdling into violence, made all the more chilling by its true-crime origins. Tavernier's detached direction, combined with knockout performances (especially from Gillain), creates an atmosphere of palpable dread that avoids sensationalism. It earned its Golden Bear at Berlin through its unflinching honesty and artistry. While lacking the comforting nostalgia of lighter fare, its power lies in its refusal to look away from the darkness that can hide behind ordinary faces. It’s a potent reminder that sometimes the most terrifying monsters are tragically, horrifyingly human – a truth that still resonates uneasily today. This is one tape that leaves a mark.