Courted

French writer/director Christian Vincent captures the jarring rhythms of life in this tonally elusive film. Initially, it seems to head in a comic direction as court officials in Saint-Omer trade gossip about judge Michel Racine (Fabrice Luchini), whose customary curtness has been exacerbated by a stinking cold. However, when the focus shifts to the case of a baby's murder by her father (Victor Pontecorvo), the mood turns sombre and the style slips into procedural realism. Then, when Michel recognises a juror (Sidse Babett Knudsen) as the doctor he fell in love with years earlier, it seems the story will take a romantic comedy turn. And yet, it doesn't, even after they go on a couple of dates. Their sparkling dialogue retains the timbre of a cross-examination but in dramatic terms, little happens. At its heart this is a study of how people caught up in the legal process must navigate the formalities while retaining hope and humanity. To that end, the everyday details are deftly observed and the performances, exemplary.