HIGH LANE

(A.k.a. VERTIGE)

Five teenagers embark on a hiking holiday across the forests of the awesome Risjnak National Park in Croatia. Are they happy? Well, Supergrass' "All Right" plays in their car - they even sing along to it - so the mood seems pretty light.

They park their 4x4 up at a remote entrance to the forage and gather their provisions together, preparing to make an unenviable trek across the mountains. Unfortunately they hit a hurdle almost immediately: the opening to the tour they're on has been sealed off by fallen rocks.

All is not lost: Fred (Nicolas Giraud) is a confident rock-climber and becomes the unofficial leader of the pack. With his encouragement, the group - completed by Karine (Maud Wyler), Loic (Johan Libereau), Chloe (Fanny Valette) and Guillaume (Raphael Lenglet) - make it to the top of the first mountain and can suddenly see the long rope bridge they need to cross to start their adventure proper.

Excitedly, Fred leads the troops onto the bridge. It's a rickety fucker much like the one Harrison Ford winds up on at the end of INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM. Of course, the scene culminates in the bridge giving way and the group having to team together to pull Karine to safety.

So, we've seen that the group can pull together. Crucially, this early scene also establishes underlying weak-points within the team (Chloe's ex-boyfriend Guillaume still has feelings for her, and current squeeze Loic is aware of this).

Bloody hell. Can the five of them keep it together when the shit really does hit the fan?

Because it's about to, you know. They make it to the middle of the mountain range, miles from help and in a place where - naturally - they cannot get a signal on their mobile telephones, when Fred gets his foot caught in a bear trap. That's a tad awkward, as the rest of them seem pretty useless in the great outdoors. The situation is made even worse, then, when we witness Fred being dragged away through the greenery by an off-screen assailant. To his friends, he is missing without explanation.

The remaining foursome agrees to forge ahead and search for Fred. Within minutes their mission is cut short when Chloe falls into a man-made trap. Finally freeing her, the quartet continue in their quest - with one of them even resorting to singing that hideous Supergrass song again when it starts to piss down on them. I hope it's okay to laugh at this point, because I simply had to.

Do they find Fred? Is there someone or something in the mountains out to get them? I won't say, but I will reveal that you can expect a minor body count, a little gore and more sumptuous photography before the film is over.

The landscapes and countryside are absolutely stunning. Hands down, HIGH LANE is one of the most visually stunning films - that is, relying on the beauty of Mother Nature - in years. Cinematographer Nicolas Massart's job is arguably an easy one, with such gorgeous scenery at his disposal. But full credit to him for ensuring we can worship almost every frame in awe.

Acting is solid, editing is slick and Abel Ferry directs with a keen eye for aesthetics. But, considering the original title VERTIGE roughly translates as "dizziness", there are too few scenes in this film that adequately exploit that. And there is ample opportunity to do so. Instead, it's as if the filmmakers are too preoccupied with making sure the end product is pretty, to inject any real knee-quivering tension into the numerous familiar set-ups (well, most of us have seen CLIFFHANGER ...?).

The bickering between Loic and Guillaume makes for an interesting sub-plot and the film is interesting in that the two female leads are fleshed out better than usual. But after about 50 minutes it's fair to start asking of an 81-minute film if it will ever get going. The answer, sadly, is not really.

Pretty but insubstantial, HIGH LANE is this week's epitome of style over substance.

The film is presented uncut in a sublime anamorphic 2.35:1 transfer. The widescreen compositions are spectacular to begin with, but the transfer amplifies them with crisp, detailed and clean images throughout. It looks postcard-perfect during the many exterior scenes. Beautiful.

French audio is presented in 2.0 and 5.1 options. Both are good, well-balanced propositions. It could be argued that the latter doesn't make full use of bass to exploit Jean-Pierre Taieb's dramatic score, but all the same it gives the action some oomph where needed.

Optimum's disc opens with a static main menu page. From there, a static scene-selection menu allows access to the main feature via 8 chapters.

The only extra on the disc is an 88-second trailer in anamorphic 2.35:1, boasting French 2.0 audio and English subtitles. Its deceptively exciting stuff, playing mainly on one pivotal moment in the film.

HIGH LANE is a terrible English retitling for this French film (what was wrong with VERTIGE?), and that cover art is crap. When the film first started it looked as though Optimum had disguised a gem under rubbish marketing. But no, HIGH LANE is actually pretty nondescript: great to look at, but covering no new ground and ultimately forgettable.

Review by Stu Willis