''The Lost Son'' is a 1999

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combin ...

starring French actor

Daniel Auteuil Daniel Auteuil (; born 24 January 1950) is a French actor and director who has appeared in a wide range of film genres, including period dramas, romantic comedies, and crime thrillers. In 1996 he won the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Fest ...

and set in London. It was directed by

Chris Menges Chris Menges BSC, ASC (born 15 September 1940) is a British cinematographer and film director. He is a member of both the American and British Societies of Cinematographers. Life and career Menges was born in Kington, Herefordshire, the son ...

Plot

Xavier Lombard is a Parisian private detective based in London. His best friend is Nathalie, a high-class call girl. He gets a telephone call from an old friend in the Paris police department, now a businessman whose brother-in-law is missing. The missing man's parents hire Xavier over their daughter's objections, and he quickly finds himself caught up in the underworld of child sex slavery. He guesses that the lost son is dead and shifts his focus to finding and breaking this lucrative business of child trafficking. He gets a reluctant Nathalie to hunt "the Austrian", the shadowy head of the

pedophile Pedophilia ( alternatively spelt paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of puberty a ...

ring. Violence erupts quickly, and Xavier soon has little more to lose.

Cast

- Lombard *

Marianne Denicourt Marianne Denicourt (née Cuau; born 14 May 1963) is a French actress, director and screenwriter who has appeared in more than 50 films and television productions since 1986. She studied under Patrice Chéreau in 1985-86 at the Ecole du Thé� ...

- Nathalie *

Nastassja Kinski Nastassja Aglaia Kinski (; , ; born 24 January 1961) is a German actress and former model who has appeared in more than 60 films in Europe and the United States. Her worldwide breakthrough was with ''Stay as You Are'' (1978). She then came to gl ...

- Deborah *

Katrin Cartlidge Katrin Juliet Cartlidge (15 May 1961 – 7 September 2002) was an English actress. She first appeared on screen as Lucy Collins in the Channel 4 soap opera '' Brookside'' (1982–1983), before going on to win the 1997 Evening Standard Fil ...

- Emily *

Ciarán Hinds Ciarán Hinds (; born 9 February 1953) is an Irish actor. Born in Belfast, Hinds is known for a range of screen and stage roles. He has starred in feature films including '' The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover'' (1989), '' Persuasion'' (1 ...

- Carlos *

Bruce Greenwood Stuart Bruce Greenwood (born August 12, 1956) is a Canadian actor and producer. He is known for his role as the American president John F. Kennedy in '' Thirteen Days,'' for which he won the Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion ...

- Alex Friedman * Billie Whitelaw - Mrs Spitz *

Cyril Shaps Cyril Leonard Shaps (13 October 1923 – 1 January 2003) was an English actor of radio, television and film, with a career spanning over seven decades. Early radio Shaps was born in the East End of London to Polish-Jewish parents; his father ...

- Mr. Spitz * Jamie Harris - Hopper * Cal Macaninch - Martin * Hemal Pandya - Shiva * Billy Smyth - "Boy No 6"

Reception

DVD Verdict panned the film, writing "''The Lost Son'' has its heart in the right place, but it fumbles the ball by presenting an idea with great potential in a fairly lackluster package. There is not enough substance here to make the film worthy of a purchase." ''The Herald'' was mixed in their review, stating that Menges "handles the unpleasant aspects in Eric and Margaret Leclere's script with tact" but that the film had too many unbelievable moments.

References

External links

The Lost Son, by Eric Leclere (pub. Alibi Books 1999, London)
- The original novel on which the film was based. * * 1999 films 1999 crime thriller films American crime thriller films American multilingual films British mystery films British thriller films American detective films Films about child sexual abuse Films about pedophilia Films about prostitution in the United Kingdom Films directed by Chris Menges Films scored by Goran Bregović Films set in London Films set in Mexico French thriller films French multilingual films 1990s French-language films English-language French films 1990s American films 1990s British films 1990s French films {{crime-thriller-film-stub