Panique

PANIQUE is a film of piercing coldness. Long before "othering" became a central theme of contemporary sociology, Duvivier analyzed the explicit and subliminal trajectories of this process: Monsieur Hire (Michel Simon), the person who turns out to be at the center of the film, is met with cold reserve by the other people in the Parisian suburb where the action is set. He is the prototypical oddball: aloof and taciturn, shy and brusque. He is a person whom one would rather avoid than address a friendly word to. Why? Because he would only respond with rejection or ignorance anyway – as one had always suspected. A vicious circle. Based on Georges Simenon's novel "Monsieur Hire’s Engagement," the film met with strong rejection at the French premiere because the character of the "Jewish-looking neighbor" and his treatment could too easily be read as symbolizing the political and moral dubiousness of “respectable” French citizens during the occupation. (re/fl)