Monsieur Joseph

This was on TV last night. The first part was not very interesting, but I waited until 1 hour before changing the channel, and after one hour, I wanted to know what had happened to Tina, so I kept watching until the end. Daniel Prévost plays Youssef Hamoudi a.k.a. Monsieur Joseph, a private librarian. Joseph came from Algiers years ago and only after a long time the people there can receive him as one of them. He marries a young woman half his age, Tina, whose mother and brother live nearby. One day, Tina is missing and Joseph tells everyone that Tina has gone to Valenciennes to stay with her friend. However, when checked, Tina is not there and her mother reports Joseph to the police, accusing him of murdering her daughter.

This is a moving story about racist and lies. Suddenly, Joseph feels he has become a stranger to his friends and neighbours. He can't drink coffee in the morning with them and one of them refuses to serve him in restaurant. A girl who uses to borrow his books has been told by her parents to return the one he just gave her, without reading it. His brother-in-law threatens him and his mother-in-law spreads the lies about him. They are bitter because they won't get any of Joseph's money when he dies. To make it worse, a few years ago a body of a young girl was found near the canal, and now they say the killer was Joseph and that he is also the murderer of Tina. Only the inspector who does the investigation has a sympathy for him. Finally, a woman who works in an inn tells Joseph that she has seen Tina leaving the town with a young manager. Although married, Joseph allows Tina to do as she pleases and she often spends nights with another (young) man. The police tells Joseph he is not guilty and free to go, but is he really free? He has lost his friends. I think one question is not answered clearly, two of Joseph's expensive books have been stolen, and who is the thief? Since only Tina and Joseph knows the combination, it must be Tina.