Depardieu is the confused great writer arrested in the middle of a rainstorm and taken to a dark, leaking Italian police station where he is interrogated by Roman Polanski's inspector, who also happens to be an ardent fan, over the identity of a murder victim. Naturally, layers of self-deception are gradually pulled away on this long dark night of the soul before it reaches a not entirely unexpected but still remarkably satisfying conclusion. Despite the claustrophobic setting, Giuseppe Tornatore's excellent composition keeps it vividly cinematic, with several memorable moments (the most impressive a beautiful sequence following a song as it floats through the room). The flashbacks are sometimes awkward and I could definitely have done without Depardieu's nudity, but this is still one of the most remarkable films I've seen in recent years. Two-thirds through the movie a power cut hit for two-and-a-half hours, and it was excruciating waiting to get the chance to finish the film.

The film is very highly recommended indeed. However, the DVD is less than perfect. The English subtitles are non-removeable, there is a synchronisation problem on the sound at one point and it only offers the French-language version (although both Polanski and Depardieu use their own voices). The only extra is the Italian trailer.

A Pure Formality
Review date: 2005-05-16 Rating: 2 out of 10

Despite a decent performance from Depardieu, the plot isn't strong enough to fill the running time. The revelation at the end of the film is not worth sitting through it to discover.

Great movie - pathetic DVD release
Review date: 2005-04-06 Rating: 6 out of 10

5 stars for the movie, 1 star for the DVD release.

This is one of my favourite movies of all times. I was waiting for the DVD release for years, and when it was finally released... what a disappointment! The transfer is really shoddy: terrible picture quality, hardcoded subs. But worst of all is the desynchronized sound: in the middle of the movie it is delayed by almost one second (!).

If you haven't seen this movie yet, it is highly recommended: a true undiscovered gem, with wonderful music, great acting, incredible dialogues and amazing plot. But if you're counting on a quality release, keep away from this one.

Finally On DVD
Review date: 2004-06-25 Rating: 6 out of 10

It's great to see this flic on dvd format, better than vhs, the transer is obviously from video and not 35mm, not a restored version at all, but its affordable and available to whoever now and at least its anamorphic. you gotta turn down the brightness a lot and do the best you can with your tv contrast and color temps, plasma guys will benefit of course, too bad I'm an lcd guy, but its affordable... Recomend this movie to anyone who liked secret window.

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