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The Color of Lies

The Color of Lies

Crime · Drama · 1999

In a small Breton town, a 10-year-old girl is found murdered. René, her art teacher, a professional painter, is the last person to have seen her alive. The inspector in charge of the investigation immediately questions him. In this small provincial town where people all know each other and regularly meet at the Bar des Amis, René is increasingly unsettled by the other inhabitants' suspicions and by the inspector's investigation. Children stop coming to him for lessons. His wife, Viviane, a district nurse, protects him and supports him with her love. However, a self-centred media-star writer adds to René's confusion...

Movie details

The Color of Lies

1999 Crime · Drama 1h 53m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

5.9 / 10

Community rating

In a small Breton town, a 10-year-old girl is found murdered. René, her art teacher, a professional painter, is the last person to have seen her alive. The inspector in charge of the investigation immediately questions him. In this small provincial town where people all know each other and regularly meet at the Bar des Amis, René is increasingly unsettled by the other inhabitants' suspicions and by the inspector's investigation. Children stop coming to him for lessons. His wife, Viviane, a district nurse, protects him and supports him with her love. However, a self-centred media-star writer adds to René's confusion...

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Color of Lies?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Claude Chabrol

Written by

Claude Chabrol · Odile Barski

Sandrine Bonnaire

Sandrine Bonnaire

Vivianne Sterne

Jacques Gamblin

Jacques Gamblin

René Sterne

Antoine de Caunes

Antoine de Caunes

Germain-Roland Desmot

Valeria Bruni Tedeschi

Valeria Bruni Tedeschi

Frédérique Lesage

Bernard Verley

Bernard Verley

Inspecteur Loudun

Bulle Ogier

Bulle Ogier

Évelyne Bordier

Pierre Martot

Pierre Martot

Regis Marchal

Court is in session

Put The Color of Lies on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.