Rapt (DVD)

There was a time in the 1960s and '70s when kidnapping politicians was almost de rigueur for left-wing terrorist organisations in Europe as there is an awful lot of attention to be gained by proving you are able to reach the 'unreachable', take someone who should be protected 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and keep them in a hidden location until you feel like either letting them go or killing them. As such, there is plenty of information for this to be adapted for a contemporary setting and Rapt is based on the real-life kidnapping in 1978 of Edouard-Jean Empain, a multimillionaire French-Belgian industrialist and playboy.

This French thriller begins when wealthy industrialist, Stanislas Graff (known to his family, friends and colleagues as just 'Stan'), leaves for work, on the eve of a visit to China when he will accompany the French President, but stops the car when a motorcycle skids on to its side in front of him. This momentary pause is the start of an ambush and suddenly the car surrounded by armed and masked men who hijack the vehicle and drive it away at high speed, with Stan blindfolded. Once they are away and sure that they haven't been followed, they take the handcuffed and blindfolded businessman, sedate him and put him in the boot of another vehicle which takes him to an underground tunnel system. The first order of business is to prove that they have him and this is achieved by cutting off his middle finger, putting it in formaldehyde and mailing it to his business partners.

Demanding a ransom of €50 million, the kidnappers don't seem to realise the intricacies of Stan's finances as, although he is the chairman of a company worth €50 billion, he is only the majority stakeholder and doesn't have direct access to that money and, in any case, unbeknownst almost everyone, he has been gambling away much of his own fortune started his family only have access to about €20 million. Now, explaining all this to people that you have never met and have absolutely no idea where they are, with every communication done by mail, is extremely hard work. Stan does his best but the kidnappers don't believe him. When the initial deadline for the handover of €50 million comes and goes and Stan hasn't been executed as promised, the wrangling for control of negotiations intensifies.

As his company is prepared to loan his family the money, they want to supervise negotiations and his family, particularly his wife, aren't too keen on letting the police handle things and would rather do this privately. The cops aren't going to let this get in their way though and, although they have been instructed otherwise, still stake out every prospective handover. The kidnappers aren't exactly stupid and noticed the presence of the gendarmes, which doesn't go down at all well. Meanwhile, Stan is still in captivity and has been moved from one location to another so in no longer needs to live in a tent underground but has a bed and frequent contact with one of the hijackers who, despite the balaclava, clearly has a white moustache.


As days turn into weeks and weeks into months, the negotiations intensify and, almost every day, there is a new revelation about Stan's private life involving mistresses, prostitutes and massive gambling losses, something which fails to endear him to the French public. Eventually, a deal is reached to hand Stan over for money that will be delivered by one of his associates under the strict instructions of the kidnappers.

Rapt is directed with real tension, panache and intelligence by Lucas Belvaux a Belgian born filmmaker who has made the brilliant films Trilogy (One, Trilogy: Two and Three) and The Law of the Weakest (La raison du plus faible, 2006) and who shows no signs of slowing down or making inferior films if this (which was nominated for César Awards) is anything to go by. It is an utterly gripping film with a remarkable central performance by Yvan Attal, full of complexities and with an incredible physical transformation involving weight loss and hair growth that sees him almost resemble Adrien Brody's portrayal of Wladyslaw Szpillmann at the end of Roman Polanski's The Pianist. As his wife, Anne Consigny, from Mesrine and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, continues to impress with a performance that shows all the worry, frustration and deep hurt that the kidnapping and revelations in the press cause.

The Disc

The Picture
As this is directed with real style and tension, the picture should be up to the job and, with bright colours and good clarity even in the darkest scenes, it is exactly as good as I hoped. The attention that went into production design, set decoration and costumes based dividends with an utterly believable set of locations and, as for the SFX make-up and CGI, you really believe that Stan finishes the film was less than his full complement of ten digits on his hands.

The Sound
The Dolby Digital 5.1 French soundtrack is extremely clear, providing an immersive soundstage with superbly delivered dialogue and very quiet but effective atmospherics for the more scenes involving Stan and the kidnappers. When it comes to scenes involving trains, a helicopter and cars and motorcycles, the surround speakers really come to life, putting you at the heart of the action.

The optional English subtitles are clear, easy to read and error free so there are absolutely no problems in understanding the dialogue and intricacies of the plot.

Final Thoughts
Rapt is a thoroughly engrossing watch with immense performances by the entire cast, particularly Yvan Attal, a smart and tense screenplay and direction that does so much to show the different sides to one person and ask the question: What is his life really worth? This is a tour de force piece of filmmaking by Lucas Belvaux and, although the disc only contains the theatrical trailer and trailers for other releases by Chelsea Films, it is still well worth a watch.