Very near Costa-Gavras's films, such as Z. But not as strong. Monica Vitti and Francois Perier they are both two excellent actors. But here they are not convincing at all. Instead, the bad guys, Jean Yanne and Michel Bouquet, they are. I think the story has credibility in real life. Possibly the things were even worse in real life than they are shown in this film. It's not a Thriller. A Drama, yes, it is. A big Drama. What is really happening in the real world, the production and sale of arms. The film tells us that after the US and Russia, France was the 3rd largest producer of weapons in the world. And perhaps it was true. In 1978, when the film is made. Since then, the situation has changed. US and Russia have kept their first two positions in the charts. But the order of those other countries is this: 3rd, Germany. Follow France, China, United Kingdom, Italy, Israel, Sweden, Ukraine. All these countries provide death on a planetary scale. They are in the same time big fighters for "the human rights". And they all are corrupt. As the whole planet Earth.
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RodrigAndrisan26 February 2017
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A newly independent African nation buys its weapons from France. Meanwhile the selfsame arms dealers are busy supplying weapons to the nation's enemies. It all works out very well - at least from the viewpoint of the arms dealers and their political overlords. (The people getting quartered, skinned or burned alive during the various battles might feel less enthousiasm.) Then a Red Cross airplane gets blown out of the sky, together with its cargo of young children. It's not going to be easy to talk this one away, especially now that an activist has assembled a damning file full of proof...
"La raison d'état" attacks both the French arms industry and the various French politicians who cherish and protect it. It also attacks France's predatory and capricious approach to the African continent. Both themes are quite brave. Still, it might have been wiser to pour these themes into some kind of documentary. This is not a terrible movie but it suffers from an overly didactic approach, what with almost every character (bad or good, cynical or idealistic) explaining, explaining, explaining. Even the intrigue itself is explained, not once but several times.
Unsurprisingly the movie doesn't work all that well as a thriller, since this relentless flood of information drowns everything ressembling subtlety, surprise and suspense. So, quite a lot of missed opportunities here...
In case you're wondering why the movie keeps on mentioning Belgium : as a Belgian I can assure you that my country produces a lot of modern weaponry which shows up in conflicts all over the world. This does not keep us from giving lessons to the rest of humanity - but then, that's a failing we share with quite a lot of supposedly civilized nations... -
dbdumonteil25 June 2008The subject which Cayatte tackled in the late seventies was not legend;it was fact.Everybody knew that France was the world's third arms seller and that they sometimes sold weapons to countries which were enemies.
In the movie,Tongo and Zana ,two imaginary countries which sound African.Two biologists know more than they do.First the professor Marrot ,then Angela Ravelli (Monica Vitti) try to alert public opinion.
It's more a thriller than a truly political movie,and it's more entertainment than thought.But it was a courageous move from Cayatte ,the first French director who made a film about death penalty in 1952. -
The best André Cayatte movie since "a Trap for Cinderella". It's really close to Costa Gavras and the final traps by Jean Yanne and Michel Bouquet are puzzling, based on their conflict on weapons trades for two opposite African countries. Poor François Périer and Monica Vitti are destroyed by National Security and it's above reality, they cannot escape to the National Security traps. The script is fascinating because everything is said about everybody on the subject of weapons trades, a strong subject still current. But remember, this is only a movie.
The entire casting is great, especially Monica Vitti as the poor victim, Jean Yanne is surprising as an official director.