Making his belated US debut, the celebrated French director, Bertrand Tavernier, delivers plenty of atmosphere but not much tension in this listless crime thriller, which is based on one of the author James Lee Burke's long-running series about the veteran New Orleans police detective Dave Robicheaux. The original novel was set in the early 1990s, but Tavernier and his writers relocate the action to post-Hurricane Katrina Louisiana, lending an extra dash of dramatic subtext to a convoluted tale of historical injustice and ingrained corruption. Coasting along on his usual grizzled charisma, Tommy Lee Jones stars as Robicheaux, a recovering alcoholic haunted by visions of American Civil War generals, as he unravels murky links between recent murders, long-buried crimes and a Hollywood film crew shooting in his backyard. Jones seems to have spent half of his career playing world-weary lawmen, and brings plenty of movie baggage to In the Electric Mist, which is not necessarily helpful. Tavernier's film certainly invites unflattering comparisons with No Country for Old Men, which co-starred not only Jones but also Kelly Macdonald, both in similar roles to those they play here. There may well be a fundamental culture clash when European arthouse directors attempt Hollywood-style police thrillers, because In the Electric Mist suffers from similar problems, with muddy plotting and slack pacing. Under Tavernier's leisurely baton, action scenes lack punch, performances ramble and shock revelations fall flat. The result is a film of high-quality ingredients, but it is disappointingly undercooked.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
