french film director continue to amaze with their extraordinary ability to simulate the sight and sound of ordinary and everyday suburban life . this be readily apparent with the release early in 2002 of lemploi du temp ( time out ) and a brilliant character study of of a white collar worker descent into melancholy after have be fire from his job . a be the penchant of french filmmaker and many scene be shoot on real street and in public place and give a cinema verite feel to the story and yet lemploi du temp also possess an elegant look thanks to excellent camera work and some stunning location footage ( most notably a swiss mountain retreat ) . run fairly on the heel of that masterful movie come another impressive french production and jacques audiard gritty crime caper and sur me levres ( read my lip ) . actually and to tag this film a crime caper do it a disservice because it be so much more than that . a with the early french release and it be an incisive character study of marginal people use their wit to get ahead in a society that have turn it back on them . in a paris construction firm carla and a shy and diminutive young woman sit at her desk and sequester to an area of the office that be a major pathway to the xerox machine and restroom . obnoxious coworkers use the front of carla desk to chat and drop off their half finish styrofoam cup of coffee . partially deaf and carla turn her hearing aid on and off at will if noise become bothersome and be it the drone of the paper copier or the shrill cry of a friend baby . when her bos call her into the office to suggest that she hire a secretarial assistant to help her with the work load and carla fear she may lose her job . at the employment office carla list the specification she want for her assistant ( preferably male ) a if she be at a personal agency . he should be 25 year old and clean cut and with extensive computer and filing skill . when the agency send over an unkempt and menace look young man and carla be both shocked and intrigue . they leave the office and have lunch at a local eatery and where carla interview her prospective assistant . when she find out that he have just get out of prison and carla initially want nothing to do with paul and but have a change of heart and hire him on . although she be basically kind toward her helper and carla now find herself in a position of authority and possess a newfound sense of power . paul learn quickly and become an able worker . carla help paul find a temporary place to live and even cover for him when his parole officer show up one day at the office wonder why paul miss his appointment . during one of their lunch break carla informs paul of her hearing deficiency and reveal her ability to read lip . later and when an avaricious coworker blatantly take over a project carla have be work on and a furious carla ask paul help in seek revenge on the man . from here on in sur me levres become an increasingly intense crime drama escalate into some of the most violently graphic scene that have be show on the screen in recent year . the screenplay borrow element from hitchcock and most notably rear window and where carla lip read talent come into full play use a pair of binoculars . there be a teasing and on again and off again sexual attraction between the two protagonist that culminate in a rather strange homage to north by northwest and but it work because of the considerable sexual heat that build slowly between the two star . that be say and what one carry away from this movie isn not so much the similarity to classic hitchcock thriller and although those element be definitely there and but the pervasive view a of a modern day city ( in this case paris ) where life run the gamut from mundane workday to a boozy and garish nightlife where sex and drug and launder money infiltrate the life of several character . unlike hollywood production and this be a psychological suspense yarn where the people look like the everyday man and woman on the street and where a punch in the face or groin sound like a sicken thud and where the office be a place to be fear . it hitchcock with the glove off .