''Daguerrotype'' (also known as ''The Woman in the Silver Plate''; ja, ダゲレオタイプの女; french: Le Secret de la chambre noire or french: La Femme de la plaque argentique) is a 2016 romantic horror film written and directed by

Kiyoshi Kurosawa is a Japanese film director, screenwriter, film critic and a professor at Tokyo University of the Arts. Although he has worked in a variety of genres, Kurosawa is best known for his many contributions to the Japanese horror genre, his honorific ...

. It stars

Tahar Rahim Tahar Rahim (born 4 July 1981) is a Franco-Algerian actor. He is known for his starring role as Malik El Djebena in the 2009 award-winning French movie '' A Prophet'' by Jacques Audiard, FBI Agent Ali Soufan in '' The Looming Tower'', Judas in ...

, Constance Rousseau,

Olivier Gourmet Olivier Gourmet (born 22 July 1963) is a Belgian actor. Gourmet was born in Namur. He won the Best Actor award at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival for his role in '' Le Fils'' by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. He also appeared in ''La Promesse ...

Mathieu Amalric Mathieu Amalric (; born 25 October 1965) is a French actor and filmmaker. He is best known internationally for his roles in the James Bond film '' Quantum of Solace'', in which he played the lead villain, Steven Spielberg's ''Munich'', Wes An ...

, and

Malik Zidi Malik Zidi (born 14 February 1975)ifrance.com
is a French film, television and theatre actor. He is a

Plot

Stéphane, a renowned fashion photographer, lives in seclusion in a dilapidated house in the Paris suburbs, together with his daughter and muse Marie. Stéphane is obsessed with his wife's unexpected death and creates her daguerreotypes every day, using his daughter as a photomodel. In order for him to do so, Marie has to remain immobile for a long time, wearing an old-fashioned blue dress. Jean, a young Parisian and the new assistant of Stéphane, falls in love with Marie. He is disturbed by the long photo sessions and, together with Marie, tries to figure out how to free Stéphane from his obsession. Jean decides to convince Stéphane to sell his real estate. The money received for the sale may be used to start a life elsewhere—both for Jean who wants to live with Marie and for the photographer who can recreate his photography studio. But things do not go as planned.

Cast

as Jean * Constance Rousseau as Marie *

as Stephane *

as Vincent *

Malik Zidi Malik Zidi (born 14 February 1975)ifrance.com
is a French film, television and theatre actor. He is a

as Thomas * Valerie Sibilia as Denise * Jacques Collard as Louis

Release

The film had its world premiere in the Platform section at the

2016 Toronto International Film Festival The 41st annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 8 to 18 September 2016. The first announcement of films to be screened at the festival took place on 26 July. Almost 400 films were shown. Awards The festival's final awards were ...

on 11 September 2016. It was released in Japan on 15 October 2016, and in France on 8 March 2017. It also screened at the 21st Busan International Film Festival, the 29th

Tokyo International Film Festival The is a film festival established in 1985. The event was held biennially from 1985 to 1991 and annually thereafter. Along with the Shanghai International Film Festival, it is one of Asia's competitive film festivals, and is considered to be the ...

, the 2017 Nippon Connection, and the 2017

Japan Cuts JAPAN CUTS: Festival of New Japanese Film is an annual festival of modern Japanese cinema held at New York City's Japan Society. The festival was first held in 2007, growing out of the Japan Society's popular bi-annual series, ''New Films from J ...

Reception

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 46% based on 13 reviews, and an average rating of 5.88/10. Boyd van Hoeij of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

'' gave the film a favorable review, saying, "A double-take scene in an empty church is an especially strong moment because of Rahim's (and Kurosawa's) tacit understanding of understatement." Meanwhile, Sam Fragoso of ''

TheWrap ''TheWrap'' is an American online news website covering the business of entertainment and media via digital, print and live events. It was founded by journalist Sharon Waxman Sharon I. Waxman (born c.1963) is an American author, journalist, ...

'' gave the film an unfavorable review, describing it as "two or three movies haphazardly wrapped into one." Andrew Barker of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' called it "Heavy on moody atmospherics yet fundamentally inert." Keith Uhlich of '' Slant Magazine'' stated that it is reminiscent of

William Dieterle William Dieterle (July 15, 1893 – December 9, 1972) was a German-born actor and film director who emigrated to the United States in 1930 to leave a worsening political situation. He worked in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood primarily a ...

's 1948 romantic fantasy film, ''

Portrait of Jennie ''Portrait of Jennie'' is a 1948 American fantasy film based on the 1940 novella by Robert Nathan. The film was directed by William Dieterle and produced by David O. Selznick. It stars Jennifer Jones and Joseph Cotten. At the 21st Academy A ...

''.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Daguerrotype 2016 films 2010s romance films 2016 horror films Romantic horror films Japanese romance films Japanese horror films Japanese ghost films French romance films French ghost films French horror films 2010s French-language films Films directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa Films about photographers 2010s French films 2010s Japanese films