Nicolas Gessner is very special director:an Hungarian,he made most of his career in France where he is today virtually forgotten,although his sentimental series "le château des oliviers" was a smash some fifteen years ago.
After directing Mireille Darc in "la blonde de Pekin" which is pleasant but not very absorbing,he made his two best works in the seventies:"quelqu'un derrière la porte "(1971) and "little girl...." These works have many similarities:both feature American stars ,Bronson and Perkins in the former,Foster and Sheen in the latter;both sometimes look like filmed stage production,although "little girl" was not,unlike "quelqu'un ...' a play;and murders;and a mysterious character in both :Foster's and Bronson's ones.
I would favor "little girl" over "quelqu'un" though.Part of the reason can be found in the fact that Foster was already a whizz kid and she carries the whole movie on her shoulders ,and it's not a small feat to make us forget the numerous plot holes.To think that at 15,she was already able to dub herself in French -like co-star Mort Shuman,who was enjoying a very successful career in France after writing for Elvis,Spector and many more-.Sheen is also impressive as a disturbing pedophile.In "quelqu'un..",Bronson was miscast and Perkins just gambled on his "psycho " prestige.
A distant relative of Jack Clayton's "our mother's house" (1967),but not as haunting though.
After directing Mireille Darc in "la blonde de Pekin" which is pleasant but not very absorbing,he made his two best works in the seventies:"quelqu'un derrière la porte "(1971) and "little girl...." These works have many similarities:both feature American stars ,Bronson and Perkins in the former,Foster and Sheen in the latter;both sometimes look like filmed stage production,although "little girl" was not,unlike "quelqu'un ...' a play;and murders;and a mysterious character in both :Foster's and Bronson's ones.
I would favor "little girl" over "quelqu'un" though.Part of the reason can be found in the fact that Foster was already a whizz kid and she carries the whole movie on her shoulders ,and it's not a small feat to make us forget the numerous plot holes.To think that at 15,she was already able to dub herself in French -like co-star Mort Shuman,who was enjoying a very successful career in France after writing for Elvis,Spector and many more-.Sheen is also impressive as a disturbing pedophile.In "quelqu'un..",Bronson was miscast and Perkins just gambled on his "psycho " prestige.
A distant relative of Jack Clayton's "our mother's house" (1967),but not as haunting though.