Le secret de la chambre noire (2016)

Directed by: Kiyoshi Kurosawa | 131 minutes | drama, fantasy, horror, romance | Actors: Tahar Rahim, Constance Rousseau, Olivier Gourmet, Mathieu Amalric, Malik Zidi

Louis Daguerre (1787-1851) is considered one of the inventors of photography. He invented the diorama and in 1826 he made the first successful photograph together with his compatriot Nicéphore Niépce. He then developed a method with which photos could be taken in a shorter time. In 1837 (after Niépce’s death), Daguerre invented the daguerreotype, a method named after him that allowed the development of photographs on a large scale. The process, using a polished mercury vapor-prepared plate, produced positive, mirrored images that could not be reproduced, but were very detailed. This early photographic method plays a prominent role in the film ‘Le secret de la chambre noire’ (2016) by the Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, who we know mainly from disturbing thrillers such as ‘Pulse’ (2001) but who also made a number of beautiful drama films. (‘Tokyo Sonata’ from 2008 for example) and in whose films the supernatural often plays a role. The international title of the film is ‘Daguerrotype’.

‘Le secret de la chambre noire’ is a first for Kurosawa in several respects – not to be confused with its illustrious namesake Akira Kurosawa. Not only is it the first film he made outside Japan (in France), it is also the first film he shot in a language other than Japanese (ie French) and the first film where he worked with a European cast and crew. Kurosawa managed to drum up an interesting set of actors for his film; the French top actors Tahar Rahim, Mathieu Amalric and Olivier Gourmet (the latter is Belgian and not French) – not the least – play a role in ‘Le secret de la chambre noire’. Rahim, who made his international breakthrough thanks to ‘Un prophète’ (2009), plays Jean, a Parisian who has the greatest possible difficulty making ends meet.

Then he stumbles upon an interesting job; he can work as an assistant to a rather reclusive living photographer. This Stéphane (Olivier Gourmet) lives in a beautiful but rather dilapidated house, far from the big city, with his 22-year-old daughter Marie (Constance Rousseau), an unworldly blonde who reminds Stéphane so much of his late wife Denise that he let her pose for his photos. And since he uses the daguerrotype method, that sometimes means she has to stand still for hours on end. To make sure she doesn’t fall over, all kinds of scary metal scaffolding and constructions have to be built around her. Sometimes Stéphane has to do an ‘ordinary’ photo job – after all, there must be bread on the table – but they don’t go well. It soon becomes clear to Jean that his new employer has stuck in the past; the old house with its creaky doors, figures he thinks he sees on the monumental stairs and then bringing the past to life using that old-fashioned photo technique.

You can leave the creation of an atmosphere of nostalgia and melancholy to Kiyoshi Kurosawa. There is an atmosphere in Stéphane’s house that is exciting on the one hand, but also gloomy on the other. It is not a haunted house in the classic sense of the word, but it seems a fact that ghosts from the past hang out in the home of the photographer longing for the past. Kurosawa manages to strike the right balance in the tone of his film in a striking and refined way: the atmosphere is frightening, without becoming really scary. Just like the characters are familiar, but then again not. Camera work and music only reinforce each other and the reliable actors do not give up. Unfortunately, in the second half ‘Le secret de la chambre noire’ falls short on story-technical level, when the focus shifts from the main story to less urgent and chewed-up subplots. Fortunately, the excellent actors keep the film going, but the magical momentum of alienation and nostalgia is unfortunately gone.