Poupoupidou (2011)

Cast: Jean-Paul Rouve, Sophie Quinton, Guillaume Gouix, Olivier Rabourdin

Director: Gérald Hustache-Mathieu

Rating: NR

Running Time: 102 min.

Synopsis: Simultaneously billed as a post-noir excursion with a "pulp" feel, and a romantic whodunit, this feature was produced as an homage to various thriller writers and also to Marilyn Monroe. It stars Jean-Paul Rouve as David, a crime author who falls under the spell of severe writer's block and winds up stranded in Mouthe, a snowy commune in Eastern France. Many in the town currently grieve the loss of its local celebrity, a blonde weather girl named Candice, who disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Sensing an opportunity to write a best-seller on the subject, David begins sleuthing around the town and discovers rather quickly that the locals are all hiding something. At the same time, he also learns much about his subject -- including the degree to which the locals in the community misunderstood her, and curiously, the ways in which her own tragic story parallels that of Monroe. Director Gérald Hustache-Mathieu toys with the conventions of the traditional thriller while lacing the movie with a great deal of wit and visual influence from the Coen brothers' Fargo (1996).