Monsieur Hire (1989)

A rather drab misanthrope (Michel Blanc) is not liked by his neighbors because he keeps to himself and refuses to socialize. When the murder of a young girl occurs in the neighborhood, he becomes the chief suspect. In the meantime, he continues to look out of his window into the apartment of an attractive young woman (Sandrine Bonnaire, VAGABOND). Based on a short novel by the prolific Belgian mystery writer Georges Simenon, the director Patrice Leconte does a fine job of keeping the narrative concise (the film clocks in at less than 90 minutes) which is good as there's only the thinnest of plots and the rest filled in by character detail. At first, we can understand why Blanc's Monsieur Hire is unliked, we don't like him either. But we soon see his innate loneliness and despite his misanthropy, his need for another human's touch. We're not quite sure how all this will play out until we get the "twist" which comes past the midway point after which it becomes rather predictable. But even its predictability doesn't negate the poignancy and sadness we feel at the film's end. The droning score is by Michael Nyman (THE PIANO). With Luc Thuillier and Andre Wilms.