646f9e108c Ex-gangster Fernand (Lino Ventura) receives a call from a dying friend, a mob boss nicknamed &quot;The Mexican&quot;. The doomed mobster talks Fernand into taking care of some criminal business and looking after his soon-to-be-married daughter. When a longtime mobster heavy, Volfoni takes exception to Fernand for being an outsider, they come after Fernand who is equal to the task. He defends himself in a series of comical killings from the onslaught of the mob. Probably one of the most poorly directed classics of French cinema, but valued for Audiard&#39;s dialogue and the acting of the whole ensemble: you will still find French people able to quote huge chunks of the dialogue, and to remember the detail of performances by Ventura, Blier et al.<br/><br/>In mid New Wave, with its many refinements of mise-en-scene and montage, Lautner&#39;s film is a crude mix of zooms, inapposite close-ups and ugly compositions. Lautner does not pretend to rival Chabrol or Godard, though in the last sequence he includes a New Wave type allusion to his &#39;Monocle&#39; films with Paul Meurisse. Without the linguistic knowledge to appreciate the subtlety of the vulgar French, or the cinematic knowledge to appreciate the nuances in the performance of the actors, I doubt if this film is accessible to an international audience, which isit should be. There is a part of all national film cultures that is precious because it is particular. Personally, I would find it impossible to teach this film in the French Cinema courses I run, because it is too French. All right, it was fun, I&#39;ll admit it…Lino Ventura doing his thing, a Simonin adaptation (like Touchez Pas au Grisbi, one of my favorite films), lots of Culture Clash between &quot;high&quot; and &quot;low&quot; language - illustrated brilliantly in Michel Audiard&#39;s script. A classic &quot;modern composer&quot; scene (I collect those), some funny music cues (especially the church organ playing the movie&#39;s themethe wedding processional). But it ain&#39;t a great movie. Another reviewer here called it something like &quot;the worst - directed French classic&quot;, and that sounds about right. It&#39;s a movie of bits and moments. The more serious and sustained the action scene is supposed to be, the more unsuccessful the movie is. I fell asleep trying to watch it on DVD. But it works in the theater - pretty much…
Mittingzazpi Admin replied
365 weeks ago