La Course du lièvre à travers les champs (1972)
Directed by René Clément

Crime / Drama / Thriller
aka: And Hope to Die

Film Review

Abstract picture representing La Course du lievre a travers les champs (1972)
For his penultimate film, La Course du lièvre à travers les champs, director René Clément takes his inspiration from the American thriller of the time, adapting David Goodis's novel Black Friday.  As on his previous thriller Le Passager de la pluie (1969), Clément pairs a star of French cinema (Jean-Louis Trintignant) with a Hollywood icon (Robert Ryan), but with somewhat less successful results.  Both actors are on fine form but their efforts are thwarted by a truly dire script.  Bogged down in a plot that is excuciatingly convoluted and implausible, this second balade américaine soon becomes repetitive and boring, and Clément's attempts to instil some life into the stillborn drama with some distractingly arty mise-en-scène merely makes matters worse.  It is worth noting that Emmanuelle Béart made her screen debut in this film, instantly attracting our attention as a little girl stuffing her face with apple pie, but apart from that it has no real claim to fame.  René Clément directed many great films in his career but this dull, lumbering monstrosity is definitely not one of them.
© James Travers, Willems Henri 2014
The above content is owned by frenchfilms.org and must not be copied.
Next René Clément film:
Soigne ton gauche (1936)

Film Synopsis

Antoine Cardot is tried in France for killing some gypsy children with his aeroplane.   When the court decides the deaths were the result of a tragic accident, Antoine is set free.  This verdict incenses the families of the dead children, who vow to kill Antoine.  The latter decides to start a new life in Canada, unaware that the gypsies are waiting for him.  Fleeing his would-be assassins, Antoine witnesses the murder of Julius Reiner, a former policeman who double-crossed his partners in crime.  Having been taken prisoner by three hoodlums - Rizzio, Mattone and Paul - Antoine escapes and makes his way to the gangsters' hideout.  Here he meets the leader, Charley, his mistress, Sugar, and his protégée, Pepper.  Mattone and Pepper want Antoine dead but Charley and Sugar, realizing that he is hiding from the murderous gypsies, agree to protect him Antoine.  Aware that the gang is planning a kidnapping in Montreal, Antoine offers his assistance but gets trapped in a dangerous love affair...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by frenchfilms.org and must not be copied.


Film Credits

  • Director: René Clément
  • Script: Sébastien Japrisot, David Goodis (novel)
  • Cinematographer: Edmond Richard
  • Music: Francis Lai
  • Cast: Jean-Louis Trintignant (Tony), Robert Ryan (Charley), Lea Massari (Sugar), Aldo Ray (Mattone), Jean Gaven (Rizzio), Tisa Farrow (Pepper), Nadine Nabokov (Majorette), André Lawrence (Gypsy chief), Don Arrès (Mastragos), Louis Aubert (Renner), Jean Coutu (Inspector), Jean-Marie Lemieux (Lester), Michel Maillot (Gypsy), Mario Verdon (MacCarthy), Daniel Breton (Paul), Emmanuelle Béart (Child), Ellen Bahl, Béatrice Belthoise, Robert Party
  • Country: France / Italy
  • Language: French
  • Support: Color
  • Runtime: 127 min
  • Aka: And Hope to Die

The very best French thrillers
sb-img-12
It was American film noir and pulp fiction that kick-started the craze for thrillers in 1950s France and made it one of the most popular and enduring genres.
The best of Indian cinema
sb-img-22
Forget Bollywood, the best of India's cinema is to be found elsewhere, most notably in the extraordinary work of Satyajit Ray.
The greatest French Films of all time
sb-img-4
With so many great films to choose from, it's nigh on impossible to compile a short-list of the best 15 French films of all time - but here's our feeble attempt to do just that.
The Golden Age of French cinema
sb-img-11
Discover the best French films of the 1930s, a decade of cinematic delights...
The very best sci-fi movies
sb-img-19
Science-fiction came into its own in B-movies of the 1950s, but it remains a respected and popular genre, bursting into the mainstream in the late 1970s.
 

Other things to look at


Copyright © frenchfilms.org 1998-2024
All rights reserved



All content on this page is protected by copyright