Les Granges brulées (1973)
Directed by Jean Chapot

Film Review

Two years after their improbable appearance together in La Veuve Couderc, Alain Delon and Simone Signoret were brought together for a second time, and in a similar setting.  This time, the fiction is a familiar crime investigation, but, unlike the conventional policier, the emphasis is much more on character than plot.  Some respectable performances (from a distinguished cast) and good location photography compensate for a lacklustre script, although Jean-Michel Jarre's music is far too intrusive and effectively ruins the mood of the piece.  Simone Signoret's daughter in the film is played by her real-life daughter, Catherine Allégret.

Film Synopsis

Les Granges Brûlées is the name of an isolated farm in the snow-capped Haut Doubs mountains of the Jura which is home to Rose, a strong-willed woman in her fifties, her husband Pierre and their two grown-up sons, Paul and Louis.  Not far from the farm, the body of a young woman is found in a her car.  It is apparent that the woman was murdered and as the police investigation gets underway the most likely suspects are Paul and Louis, who were both away from home when the crime was committed.  When Rose refuses to say anything that might incriminate her sons, the investigating magistrate, Pierre Larcher, has no choice but to close the case, but by this stage a dark cloud of suspicion hangs over the farm.

On discovering that Paul has a large sum of money in his possession, money which must have been stolen from the dead woman, Pierre goes into town to denounce his son to the police, but he changes his mind.  Paul confesses to stealing the money, but he insists he had no part in the woman's death.  When Larcher shows up with a warrant to search the farm, he is too late.  Rose has already hidden the stolen money.  The most likely suspect is Louis, but it turns out he has a cast-iron alibi, since he was with his mistress when the murder took place.  In the end, Rose's faith in her sons' innocence is rewarded, but only after she and her family have been forced to confront some unpalatable truths about themselves...