Automne is a French crime thriller. Or, at any rate, that is what it's non-French speaking American director was attempting, being a big fan of such movies.
The story revolves around a band of criminals who work out of the titular cafe Automne. Only, we don't know that's the name of the cafe until later in the movie. So there's also a bunch of flashbacks that happened to the three main characters one fall when they were children. Though the connection between that day and the events of the film are not really clear.
And that's an ongoing problem with the film; while the imagery and themes are well constructed on their own (ideas such as loyalty, cheating, greed, memory) they aren't terribly well hung on each other. Every scene seems a stand-alone set piece, made more obvious by the simple fade-cuts between events.
Worse, for a presumed thriller, there really aren't any thrills. There are really no tense moments, even when guns are drawn and lives are at stake. And without tension, the movie just...drags.
Posted by Gaunt at September 11, 2004 11:07 AM