Jo
1971 Black Comedy
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Credits
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Summary
Under the pretence of researching his next thriller play, writer Antoine Brisebard consults
his friend Adrien Colas over how to commit the perfect murder. For some time, Antoine
has been the victim of an unscrupulous backmailer, Monsieur Jo, and he has finally decided
to take action to prevent Jo from revealing the scandalous past of his dear wife.
One night, Antoine arranges for Jo to pay him a visit, intending to shoot him dead and
bury his body in the foundations for a new gazebo. With a few glitches along the
way, the scheme goes off as planned. Then, soon after, Antoine discovers that Jo
was previously killed by someone else and that the body that is buried beneath the gazebo
is not Jo’s at all. If Antoine didn’t kill Jo, who exactly did he kill..?
Review
Comedy giant Louis de Funès is on fine form in this well-oiled thriller spoof,
one of his most respectable collaborations with director Jean Girault. The film
combines the black comedy of the play on which it is based with some very effective visual
gags, playing very much to De Funès’ strength as a comedian. A natural stage
performer, Louis de Funès is generally better utilised by films that adhere most
closely to the form of a theatrical play – consider, for example, his extraordinary performances
in Oscar
(1967) and L’Avare
(1979). Here, he stars opposite Claude Gensac, who played his on-screen
wife in the early Gendarmes
films, and a magnificent Bernard
Blier, that stalwart of the comedy thriller genre. The film has some similarities
with (and may well have been influenced by) Hitchcock’s The
Trouble With Harry (1955), a better known black comedy about a body that refuses
to stay buried.
© James Travers 2005 Buy films starring Louis de Funès Write a review for this film... |
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