Kalinka ★★★★

ONE of the enjoyments of film festivals is uncovering a hidden gem like French drama Kalinka.

The presence of Daniel Auteuil was my sole reason for choosing to see the film during the Perth leg of the 2017 Alliance French Film Festival.

The veteran actor didn’t disappoint and I was gripped from start to finish by the film, based on the true story of Andre Bamberski’s 30-year fight to bring justice for his daughter following her disturbing and unexplained death.

Soon after the film’s commencement, Andre and his wife divorce. The children live mainly with their father but visit their mother and her new husband, Doctor Dieter Krombach, in Germany.

Kalinka’s sudden death occurs on one of these visits. An autopsy is held but Andre is not satisfied with the result and so begin his decades-long battles within the legal and justice systems across several countries.

If you are as unaware of the story as I was, make sure you avoid plot spoilers as the main pleasure of the film is watching the unfolding drama and how Andre navigates the ever mounting and detailed legal obstacles. As one of his lawyers says late in the film after hearing him speak to a judge on the phone: “You really don’t need me any more”.

Auteuil is terrific as always playing the father obsessed with honouring his daughter’s memory, no matter what the personal cost. Think the Liam Neeson thriller Taken but with the hero taking down the villains (of sorts) with legal arguments and impassioned pleas as opposed to guns and knives.

I’m not aware of director Vincent Garenq’s previous films but the synopses for 2014’s The Clearstream Affair and Guilty (2011) also sound intriguing.