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French films Thriller
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A classic of the French policier genre, Dernier domicile connu, is the third film directed by José Giovanni, one that paints a sombre and disturbing portrait of police methods and gangster activity in the early 70s. Giovanni had scripted several notable French crime dramas, including Jacques Becker’s Le Trou (1960) (based on his first novel) and Jacques Deray’s Du rififi à Tokyo...
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Costa-Gavras followed his hugely successful film Z with L’Aveu, the second of what was to become a series of critically acclaimed political thrillers. L’Aveu was based on the novel by Arthur London which recounted his own experiences of detention by the USSR state police. The film, like the novel, offers a shocking and vivid portrayal of the brutal methods used by the police during...
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Whilst much of the last decade of Jean Gabin’s career is generally pretty lacklustre there are a few films in which the actor distinguishes himself with some pretty remarkable performances. Foremost of these is La Horse, in which Gabin plays a character who is very much close to his own heart, a patriarchal landowner who is anchored in the ways of the past...
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Judging by the end result, hallucinogenic drugs probably had a part to play with the conception and realisation of La Rupture, one of Claude Chabrol’s weirder films. It is one of those oddities which fall somewhere in the uncharted territory between psychological thriller and "theatre of the absurd" black comedy, and consequently has you wetting yourself for two entirely different reasons...
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Jean-Pierre Melville’s penultimate film is an unashamed, no holds barred homage to the American film noir detective thriller of the 1940s. Despite the simplicity of its plot and the characteristic minimalism of its style, Le Cercle rouge is conceivably Melville’s most sophisticated, most compelling, most perfect film...
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In the pantheon of successful French screenwriters, Michel Audiard deserves a prominent position. He wrote the dialogue for some of the most popular mainstream French film films of the 1960s and 1970s – classics such as Un taxi pour Tobrouk (1960) and Les Tontons flingueurs (1963). Although he is best known as a writer...
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Le boucher is an early and splendid example of the kind of gentle but engrossing thriller which would become the mainstay of Claude Chabrol’s film work. The director’s skills are very much in evidence in this film. The film begins with a charming and perceptive portrayal of provincial life, reminiscent of scenes from Chabrol’s earlier film...
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La Decade prodigieuse is not the most well-oiled of Claude Chabrol’s thrillers, and coming after such excellent examples of the genre as Le Boucher (1969) et Que la bête meure (1969), it is something of a let down. Whilst the director succeeds in sustaining an aura of grim menace – for which the often weird cinematography is largely responsible...
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Director Henri Verneuil followed his huge successful policier Le Clan des Siciliens (1969) with another film of the same genre, albeit one in a somewhat lighter vein. The film stars two iconic actors of the time – Jean-Paul Belmondo and Omar Sharif – and had a colossal budget of 15 million French francs, making it one of the biggest French films of the year...
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Out 1 is like a more avant-garde Thomas Pynchon, or Honoré de Balzac on drugs. A true piece of art, it’s unpredictable, a darkly epic tragedy one moment, and a hysterically unsettling comedy the next. This pantheon of a film creates it’s own trippy, jagged landscape, laws and time. Its symbolic insanity creates a confusing...
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In a similar vein to Costa-Gavras’ earlier films, Z and L’Aveu, État de siège is a stylishly filmed political thriller making a bold statement about abuse of power by governments in a politically repressed country. Although it is not named as such in the film, Costa-Gavras’ target here is Uruguay (although the film was shot in Chile)...
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This polished political thriller earned critical acclaim for director Yves Boisset and stands as one of his best films, in spite of its complex plot and ambiguous political context. The scenario was based closely on the infamous Ben Barka affair, in which the Moroccan leader was “disappeared” in mysterious circumstances in Paris in 1965...
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Although intended as an off-the-wall comedy, L’Aventure, c’est l’aventure does offer a pretty accurate reflection of the kind of political upheavals which were taking place in France when it was being made. The aftershocks of May ’68 were still shaping public attitudes, with power gradually shifting away from the political and managerial elite into the hands of ordinary...
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This popular and entertaining comedy thriller established Pierre Richard as one of France’s leading comic actors in the 1970s, and his character, François Perrin, would reappear a number of times in other films over the following decade. The film’s screenplay was written by Francis Veber, who went on to win acclaim for his further scripting and directoral work...
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For his final film, Jean-Pierre Melville returns to the genre in which he excelled, the policier. Un flic comes from the same mould as his earlier masterpieces, such as Le Cercle rouge, Le Deuxième souffle and Le Samouraï, portraying a grim world of masculine solitude and violence in which crime seldom pays...
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The popular Belgian singer Jacques Brel stars along side Lino Ventura – the great hard man of French cinema – in this unique, totally bizarre black comedy. The film was adapted from a popular stage play by Francis Veber and directed by Edouard Molinaro. The same director-writer team would achieve even greater success in 1978 with the almost legendary hit La Cage aux folles...
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With this stylish thriller, Philippe Labro takes some carefully judged swipes at his own profession, that of journalism, whilst referencing some major topical concerns – including corruption in politics and industry. This is Labro’s third film and although it feels heavily overloaded with content, it is well crafted and a compelling example of the polar (mystery-thriller) genre...
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In this unusual and distinctive dramatic thriller popular actor Yves Montand is perfectly cast as the suave gangster boss who is compelled to confront his past and his own mortality, with grim consequences. Under the direction of Pierre Granier-Deferre, Montand skilfully avoids the familiar film stereotypes and manages to give one of his most respectable screen performances...
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This stylish albeit pretty run-of-the-mill suspense thriller was the first film to be directed by Claude Pinoteau, who is perhaps best known for his 1980s hit La Boum. The film will appeal to devotees of the classic French polar and fans of actor Lino Ventura alike. Although well-paced and visually impressive, the film is not without its faults...
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Once again, director Claude Chabrol sets about exploring the not so discrete charm of the bourgeoisie in another well-honed psychological thriller. Here the central theme is how the endless pursuit of freedom can rebound and result in ever-growing imprisonment. The characters Pierre and Lucienne find release from the shackles of their barren marriages by defying the standards of middle class...
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