A tailor-made vehicle for Belmondo, out-Burting Burt Reynolds in this action flick with non-stop action. The whole thing is laughable thirty years later because we are used to Bourne Identities coming out of our fannies, but this is how they made films before CGI and mega budgets: a charming star, an excellent ensemble cast, well-motivated action, and a relatively tight script. Okay, it's cheesy by modern standards, but one must remember French politics re. Africa (remember Bokassa? The French do) and mercenaries. It makes more sense to the French, and certainly didn't export well. But you can nonetheless see why Belmondo could get away with a certain wink at the camera Burt smarminess, because he always played it with a touch of comedy, and he was way more charming than Burt ever was. ALthough you can read this film as played for laughs, at the time it's plot was believable, and the cold-hearted treatment of citizens by government forces is certainly more than believable to Europeans. Watch it and enjoy. How many low budget action films stand up 30 years later? This one does, and the subtitling is pretty good.
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GLanoue10 February 2011
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Look at this movie with young and fresh eyes, and it shouldn't work.
Look at it with older eyes (I'm 42) and it shouldn't work either. I mean, so much has happened in over 25 years! But somehow magic is involved, and the movie works. There is something to be said about french cinema from the 60s/70s/80s. Timeless classics were made.
I might view this with rosy eyes since it's from my youth. But I actually saw it in my youth and didn't think much about it. Having re-viewed it a few times in my older years, I start to notice the details of the story, the beauty of the acting and the actors of the era. But while the story as such is fine, what really ties the movie together is the sound track. Ennio Morricone did something extraordinary here. The notedly beautiful "Chi May" (italian for "whatever") may not be from 1981 (it was done years before), but here it really finds its home. Rarely does music from a sound track of a relatively unknown movie induce such feelings almost 25 years later.
And with that said, I can only say this: If you enjoy real, old school cinema, this should really be on your "movie bucket list". -
PimpinAinttEasy24 November 2017One of the rare instances when the music composer is the hero. This is Morricone's film. his famous tune "Chi Mai" is played in many scenes and it lifts many ordinary ones to another level.
On the surface, the film is like a tongue in cheek revenge drama. Belmondo plays a French Rambo who is sent to an African nation to assassinate its leader. But he is hung out to dry by the French intelligence services and is jailed following a public trial. After a dramatic escape from an African slave camp, Belmondo returns to France to take revenge on the people who betrayed him.
But if you look closely, the film is an odd mix of many genres. It is not just an action film. Sure, there is a spaghetti western style shoot out, a pulsating car chase and some seriously violent action. The women are all objects of sex who want to sleep with Belmondo or get coffee for the superiors. But it is also a satire about the incompetence of French intelligence agencies and how the leaders of first world countries and third world countries are in bed with each other. At one point, a French intelligence agent remarks irritably about a countryside mansion (where an African leader and his prostitute are residing) - "Why are we deploying such a large police force to protect this whorehouse?"
The gritty and violent beginning in Africa, is at odds with Belmondo's adventures in France. It is not a bad film. I'm sure there is a context which I don't really get because I'm no expert on French politics and foreign policy.
Belmondo is awesome. He must have been pretty old when he made this, but he was really pumped up. The women are all nice eye candy. There is even a lesbian torturer who tries to move in on Belmondo's wife only to get a karate chop on her neck.
But like I said at the beginning, the real hero of this film is good old Ennio. -
Renaldo Matlin19 December 2003This has to be, without a doubt, one of Jean-Paul Belmondo's finest hours on screen.
I can only guess that "Le Professionnel" is the kind of movie that helped inspire future action-directors like Luc Besson, the way it mixes raw violence with quirky charm and last but not least: some memorable, often cartoonish characters: Robert Hossein is creepy as hell as police captain Rosen, and Belmondo ignites the screen with charm and charisma, so much that the scene with the helicopter will just tear your heart out.
This French little gem has thrills, action and even a few laughs, it includes such showstoppers as a car-chase in front of the Eiffel Tower (!) and even a wild west style duel in broad daylight on the streets of Paris. To top it all of the soundtrack includes one of Ennio Morricone's most famous movie themes!
In short: highly recommended for fans of European action movies. -
wzzxo28 August 2005This is one of the best french action movie made in the 80's. This has nothing to do with a today's block buster from Hollywood, but the famous cues from Michel Audiard and the "Chi Mai" music from Ennio Morricone participate in creating an atmosphere that will keep you under suspense till the deadly end. There are some scenes that appear to be very old now (the one with the computer is quite comic today) and some others that you will remember for the text. To conclude : a tremendous script, Audiard's cues, Morricones's music, some handmade fights and a spectacular cars'pursuit in the most famous streets of Paris. And you still doesn't want to see this film ?
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vladi-317 June 1999This is a fabulous movie. Probably the best work of Jean-Paul Belmondo ever. The musical score by Ennio Morricone is nothing short of fantastic. Too bad, that it is not easy to get in America.
Very melodic, beautiful orchestra score. -
boblipton9 September 2021Jean-Paul Belmondo is on trial for trying to kill Pierre Saintons, the military dictator of an African country. He won't say who hired him, he's heavily drugged, and eventually he is sent to prison. Two years later, he escapes and returns to Paris to take another crack at the job; his former colleagues in the French Secret Service, who sold him out when the political winds changed, try to stop him.
It's one of those roles in which Belmondo does things, which is what made him so attractive as a New Wave anti-hero. He's still playing the anti-hero, of course, but there are no heroes, just middle-aged bureaucrats, thugs , and beautiful women. He lets you see the years and weariness creep up on him, particularly in the scenes with Michel Beaune. Mostly, though, he is what the title of the movie suggests, a thorough professional, who takes well-calculated risks that confound the people who try to stop him; they are worried about their jobs, their futures, their remaining ideals of right and wrong, and utility. He's just doing a job, and if he survives, well and good, and if not..... well, that was a possibility all along. -
ElMaruecan8217 December 2011A hit-man, a helicopter, an unforgettable climactic sequence, a, thriller, a music It's sad that 90% of movie fans now remember "The Professional" as a great action/thriller film made by a French director named Luc Besson, and featuring the acting debut of Natalie Portman, and Jean Reno as a professional hit-man protecting her from the claws of a demented cop played by Gary Oldman.
I guess EVERYONE in America associates THIS title with THIS film, while in France, and probably in Europe, when people think of "The Professional", there's a beautiful melody instantly resonating in their mind, a penetrating score that conveys the fatality hanging over the shoulders of one of the greatest antiheroes of French Cinema: Joss Beaumont, played by Jean-Paul Belmondo in his career's most defining role, and the notes I'm thinking of while writing these lines are certainly some of the greatest that ever enriched Cinema's musical memories, a sound made by the great Ennio Morricone. If you haven't seen the film and if you're unfamiliar with the music, I allow you to suspend the reading of this review, because it's so pointless compared to the beauty of "The Professional"'s score. And I implore you to go listen to it, before getting back to this useless assemblage of words.
What is "The Professional", or who is he? I don't know if this really matters if you don't plan to watch the film. It's so simplistic in its premise that it can be compared to anything made before or after, like "The Day of the Jackal" or even the 1994's "Professional" after all: you have your traditional cat-and-mouse chase between a killer with a sense of honor, and the cops and politicians whose ambiguous motives make you inevitably root for their target. Manipulation? No, the film is simply above these considerations, when you watch it; you understand that it doesn't have no purpose else than to captivate you until a rewarding confrontation. It still has an average 80's B-movie feel, some campy acting, some visual and sound effects that need to be reconsidered, the blood looks like red paint, in fact, the form is as simplistic as the content.
And the treatment toward women is exquisitely misogynistic in the purest tradition of James Bond films where even in the most honorable woman, there's something slutty waiting for the magnetic Belmondo, to exude itself, all the opportunities to expose some nude breasts or curvy legs are good, but for some reason, it suits the spirit of a film that doesn't embarrass itself with political correctness: these were other days where movies obeyed to some formulas that didn't depend on the public's reaction. Indeed, the script written by Michel Audiard, one of the most popular French writers, is a challenge for moral sensitivity, since nobody's spared : Africans, politicians, women, cops, there's a cloud of badness contaminating the air and spilling over all the characters, and in this environment where each works for his or her interest, all we can do is to root for the man who follows his instinct, his sense of duty, his honor.
Joss Beaumont is the man who was paid to kill the President of a fictional African country, and was literally sold by his government. After two years, he's back to France, and determined to finish his job, even if the President became a friend of France. People are so banally corrupted that the very notion of hero and villain becomes pointless. There's a great line coming from the African head of state who tells Joss that 'it took France two revolutions and five republics to become a very debatable form of democracy, and he's supposed to do that in years?' During the disenchanted 70's when France was stricken by an economical crisis, the infamous "Giscard presidency", and when the public was disillusioned with the power of law, an icon had to incarnate this moral ambiguity between what is legal and is legitimate. Since his debuts with Melville, Belmondo was born to play likable outlaws and needless to say that "The Professional" was tailor-made for him.
The movie has reached such an iconic status in France that it might catch off-guard some younger or foreign audience, because at first sight, there's something almost deliberately poor in the way it's handled until the cat-and-mouse aspect gradually turns more into a sort of chess game where Beaumont is so well-trained that he becomes a real mastermind, using the greatest tricks he learned, he even refers to chess by using the 'playing the whites' strategy: the attack. And naturally, there's always this feeling of everyone trying to anticipate the moves of the other, to which person he'll get, and what he'll do next. Beaumont's goal is clear: assassinating the President, and for cops: stopping Beaumont, by any means and for that job: there's the unflappable face of Robert Hossein, as Rosen, the man who made it personal: so calm, so scary that he's the perfect antagonist to the flamboyant and charismatic Beaumont.
To conclude, whatever could be perceived as flaws is so archetypal of a certain breed of French cinema that it takes a sort of gourmet pleasure to appreciate it, especially today when, for the sake of realism, the macho man has turned into a sexual beast and when characters are all bland and particularly unlikable. Interestingly, one of the new generations actors who was inspired by Belmondo is Jean Dujardin and you can see how he inherited his mannerisms, this mix of charisma and flamboyance. There are some times where nothing can beat old-school cinema, because it was so damn serious but never took itself seriously.
And the last five minutes are so breathtaking, that whatever flaws you may have pointed out, it totally redeems the film, especially thanks to the iconic score of Ennio Morricone. Simply put, "The Professional" is one of the best French films! -
peru1-595-63010622 February 2013Filmed in 1981 when Belmondo was 48 this is a quirky movie that was meant to be comedy/serious using the star drawing power of Belmondo.
The ending was a surprise as through out the movie you know Belmondo is going to prevail. But some how the ending is a gimmick that works and you rethink the serious basis of this story.
I have little doubt the French secret service orchestrated lots of power brokering in Africa--whether they went as far as assassinations--??-possibly.
Other than that fact this movie is totally unbelievable but you don't mind it as you witness Belmondo waltz around impossible roadblocks and apparently tie up the entire French security system in knots. Yes, it is pretty silly.
This movie leaves you with an odd mix of emotions. Yes, it is idiotic nonsense but still..... There is also a time warp element, a lot of the references to Africa would be PC taboo today.
Over all it deserves about a 6.5 but it is so different I gave it a 7.
I hope I offend no one but Belmondo sure must have led a dissipated life style to look like he does. Why do the French make sex symbols out of less than handsome actors?..Depardieu--Yves Montand etc...bizarre.
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For me this is the best work of Bel Mondo. The story its just perfect, Joss (main character) uses the orders that the service gave to him to kill president N'jala even after he became friend to to his government. They betrayed him and left him to die in prison. The character of commissaire Rosen it's a perfect one. I have seen this movie maybe 20 times and every time I find something new. The speech in the end between the minister and capitaine Valeras it's my preferite moment: Is this call under surveillance? Of course Mr. Minister. The duel between Rosen and Joss in the best picture of Paris I have ever seen is also great. But the truth is every moment and every word is perfect. You don't have to miss this movie.
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zillion2922 April 2006This movie irked me for the first 45 minutes or so. The plot it seriously flimsy, the hero is a middle aged droopy guy who looks more like a florist than an asskicker, and it reeks of 80s eurocheese. What's more, Beaumont (aside from being a droopy nebbish in a Member's Only pleather jacket) is a cad who's stringing along his wife and one of his hot coworkers. But then someone flips a switch and the movie gets much more interesting. This movie must have seriously inspired Luc Besson and the newer crop of French filmmakers - especially the showdown with Rosen and the fact that Valera has a Goldorak robot and Leiji Matsumoto manga on the walls of his flat. This had to be the inspiration for Jean Reno's character in Wasabi. I still don't buy Belmondo as someone chicks would want to have sex with, but his haymaker punches and karate kicks were quite amusing. Who else would put a searing-hot just-fired Magnum .44 in their trousers after blowing someone away?
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JKettch28 April 2001There are not many movies which impressed me as much as this one. Everything is perfect, actors, story and as the best) the music of Ennio Morricone..... One of the movies you can see as much as you want...you will never be bored! Forget modern/new action movies made in Hollywood. See this one. Today no one makes movies like this any more... Just unbelievabel and great!
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PimpinAinttEasy28 December 2017One of the rare instances when the music composer is the hero. This is Morricone's film. His famous tune "chi mai" is played throughout in many scenes and it lifts many ordinary parts to another level.
On the surface, the film is like a tongue in cheek revenge drama. BELMONDO plays a French Rambo who is sent to an African nation to assassinate its leader. But he is hung out to dry by the french intelligence services and is jailed following a public trial. After a dramatic escape from an African slave camp, BELMONDO returns to France to take revenge on the people who betrayed him.
If you look closely, the film is an odd mix of many genres. It is not just an action film. sure, there is a spaghetti western style shoot out, a pulsating car chase and some seriously violent action. The women are all objects of sex who want to sleep with BELMONDO or get coffee for the superiors. But it is also a satire about the ridiculousness and incompetence of French intelligence agencies and how the leaders of first world countries and third world countries are in bed with each other. At one point, a French intelligence agent remarks irritably about a countryside mansion (where an African leader and his prostitute are residing) - "why are we deploying such a large police force to protect this whorehouse?"
The gritty and violent beginning in Africa, seemed at odds with the BELMONDO's adventures in France.
It is not a bad film. I'm sure there is a context which i don't really get because i'm no expert on French politics and foreign policy.
BELMONDO is awesome. He must have been pretty old when he made this, but he was really pumped up. The women are all nice eye candy. There is even a lesbian torturer who tries to move in on BELMONDO's wife only to get a karate chop on her neck.
But like i said at the beginning, the real hero is Morricone. -
Seeing this movie in 2018, you may wonder about the ratings.
The ultra thin story: French secret agent Belmondo, sold out in the middle of his mission -to kill an african president- first searches for the viewers pity as a maltreated prisoner in some african camps. Once he is able to escape -2 years later-, he has nothing in mind than still to kill that president, who visits France and now is in friendly relationship with France, against governamental interests. And yes, with barely no twists at all in the script, he succeeds. That's it.
We also witness a 1:1 western style pistol duel, but placed in the middle of Paris. Not later than now, you begin to scratch your head. Of course Belmondo is a legend, liked by men and possibly more by women, but the shadow of this quite sensless script IMO is just to dark to be able to like the movie. As smart, intelligent and charismatic agent he might be in this movie, he can't save it. Also the laconic, repetitive soundtrack, praised by some, IMO does draw down this movie even more, it just emphasizes the inevitability, for which you can't find a reason. -
Angeneer22 July 1999This is a movie I can't help seeing again and again. The classic scenes are so many I don't have enough space to write them. Best of all, the very last scene (Joss exiting the castle). The movie is brilliantly complimented by Ennio Morricone's Chi Mai, a song you must have in your CD drawer. Don't you miss it!
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This is what action movies should be like...without pretension, without being overly philosophical...it's the raw simplicity and humor in "Le Professionnel" that make it oh-so-magnifique! Yes, Morricone's score is unforgettable. The characters...the heroes, antagonists...everything is so yummy and cozy. Belmondo exudes such irresistable charm that at the end I just hoped he'd RUN to the helicopter...but alas, this isnt a Hollywood production. Go Joss, woo! A definite must-see...and the car-chase was good, even in today's CGI standards. Oh, and the French ensemble cast is wonderful!
Yum, yum, yum... -
ma-cortes23 September 2012This spy movie packs thrills , emotion , exciting action scenes , good performances , spectacular car chases, and a moving finale . It concerns a French secret agent named Joss Baumont (Jean Paul Belmondo) is sent to one of the African countries to murder president Njala . However, at the last moment the political climate turns and his superiors decide to sell him to the new African regime ; as the French secret service deals with the African authorities , Joss is double-crossed and condemned to a long-term imprisonment , two years of hard labor . After a daring getaway he goes back to his country and deliberately communicates his previous bosses of his presence promising them to kill Njala (Pierre Saintoins) who has just arrived in France with the official visit . And so begins the manhunt , including Le Ministre (Jean Desailly) , Chief of Police, and Military Adviser . Belmondo being relentlessly chased by his former superiors and a tough agent (Robert Hossein) , while he attempts to see his wife (Elisabeth Margoli) and lover (Cyrielle Clair) .
This is an intriguing film that contains noisy action , suspense , thrills , car chases and anything else . Belmondo steals the show , as always , as he runs and leaps ; he jumps over buildings , driving quickly cars and executes his own stunts . Belmondo sports an inimitable smile while shots and kills ; as usual he combines action with comic episodes . The highlights result to be a dueling filmed in Western-showdown style between Belmondo and Robert Hossein ; furthermore , a suspenseful and surpring ending . Enjoyable acting by main star names , Jean Paul Belmondo and Robert Hossein . Belmondo steals the spectacle , as usual at the time , playing splendidly the secret agent who's double-crossed and is bent on taking his sweet vengeance on those who betrayed him and bring war on the doorstep of noisy Paris . Belmondo makes as his own stunts as well as Jackie Chan , drives rapidly automobiles , including those of the car chase on The Trocadero Plaza . Jean-Paul always performed all the stunts himself but ceased to do so after the accident during the filming of ¨Hold Up¨(1985) . Strong and agreeable secondary cast such as : Jean Desailly as Minister , Cyrielle Clair as lover , Elisabeth Margoni , among others . Interesting and thrilling screenplay by the prestigious Michael and Jacques Audiard based on a novel by Patrick Alexander . Colorful cinematography by Henri Decae , considered to be one of the best French cameramen , shot on location in Camargue, Bouches-du-Rhône, France (Africa scenes) and Château De Ferrières, Ferrières, Seine-et-Marne, France . Wonderful soundtrack by the great Ennio Morricone , including emotive leitmotif , nowadays a classic . Released years before this film, Ennio Morricone's musical theme "Chi Mai" was never intended to be used for cinema . After hearing it on the radio however , actor/co-producer Jean-Paul Belmondo was so enthralled that he suggested it should be put into the musical score of this movie Le professionnel (1981) .
The picture was successful at box office , ranking 4th highest grossing movie of its year in France. Broke the 300,000 admissions mark in Paris ; a record at the time . The motion picture was well directed by Georges Lautner . He was an expert on comedy and action genre , and realized various vehicles for famous and tough French actors , such as Alain Delon (Twisted detective , Les Seins De Glace), Michael Constantin (These was once a cop , Man in the trunk , Take it easy is a waltz) and of course, Jean Paul Belmondo (Cop or hood , Le Guignolo , Joyeuses Paques , Le Professional) . Rating : 6.5/10 , acceptable film for Jean Paul Belmondo fans and action aficionados . -
torrball16 July 2000This is the best movie that Jean Paul Belmondo performance the movie came to this country in 1982 and you can see it how france handle political situation.. is the same way that countries in the first world treated third world countries during that time and if you remember during the 80's cold war was in the very best successful, beside this the acting is good and Ennio Morricone music "Chi Mai" combined with the dramatical scenes gives to you a spectacular moment that you never are going to forget this is the kind of movie for have in collection but unfortunately is not released in DVD region#1 or VHS but if you have an opportunity to rent it in your local video store ""DO IT""
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eyesour20 November 2011Hilarious 1981 Gallic mash-up of every comic schoolboy adventure story stretching back to Fanfan la Tulipe (Gerard Philipe, 1952), and taking in everything you can think of both before and since. A jolly payday for everyone involved, happily strolling through their parts with varying degrees of thespian competence, but not straining too hard, whether good or truly mediocre. It kept reminding me of other movies: Where Eagles Dare, Day of the Jackal, James Bond, the Bourne trilogy, Good, Bad, Indifferent, Gunfight at OK Sundown, North by Northwest, Charlie Varrick, Leon the Professional, Last King of Scotland, You Name It.
Long Leone-type facial close-ups. Plenty of political incorrectness. Sadism, persecution, lesbianism, unconvincing fake punch-ups. Great car chase sequence, with Last Gasp Belmondo, looking leathery and cool, at the wheel, handling his own stunts in the spectacular setting at the Trocadero. Wow! Fabulous anti-Hollywood ending. Weird relationships of love and friendship --- something seminally continental about those. I really couldn't sort them out. Who was doing what to who, exactly? Highly watchable, but I'm suspending all critical faculties by giving it 6 out of 10. Is this rating system working again, yet? -
dromasca17 July 2020Ennio Morricone left this world recently and these days the movie channels broadcast - probably not by coincidence - many films in which the music is composed by him. It is a good opportunity to appreciate the quality of his compositions but also the role that soundtrack plays in creating the atmosphere and emphasizing certain aspects of the narrative in movies. 'Le professionel' from 1981, directed by Georges Lautner with dialogues written by Michel Audiard is a good example of this. Morricone's music not only comprises one of the musical hits of film history, but also actively participates in pacing the story and balancing the comic and dramatic elements. The other main reason why this film arouses the interest of viewers to this day is of course the presence in the lead role of Jean-Paul Belmondo.
The story. Joss Beaumont (Belmondo), a secret agent with a license to kill, is sent by the the French intelligence services to assassinate the president of an imaginary African dictatorship. His back luck is that by the time he arrives in Africa, a change in government policies takes place and the former bullet-targeted rival becomes a friend who not only needs to be protected, but even his future assassin is offered to him as a gift. Escaped from prison after two years of African hell, Joss returns to Paris with plans for revenge, which include the assassination of the African president during an official visit to France. All the French police and secret services are following him. Only women are his allies - his wife plus two other beauties who would make Agent 007 with his Bond girls jealous. Paris becomes the scene of a duel of intelligence in which our hero always seems to guess in advance the movements of those who who are on his footsteps and spectacular pursuits. Belmondo was also famous for performing many of the risky scenes on his own, putting the stuntmen out of work.
The film manages to be interesting and enjoyable to watch until today, and it is largely the merit of Belmondo, who manages to be charismatic and full of humor even while he plans a cruel but well-deserved revenge. The rest of the cast fulfills its mission with professionalism, with a special mention for Robert Hossein as Commissioner Rosen, Joss's main rival. Hossein was an excellent actor who always seemed to me not to be cast in the roles that he deserved. The soundtrack also has a dominant role, some of the scenes, especially in the first part of the film, look like ballet numbers performed on Morricone's songs. But the fact that the film is largely based on Belmondo's personality and Morricone's music can be considered a weak point. Some viewers may consider their performances excessive, others may argue that if we remove them there is not much left of this film. Maybe everyone is right. Anyway, as entertainment, I liked 'Le professionel', seen now, 39 years after its launch,. -
The tale of an assassin left behind, and his quest to get revenge has been done in many movies. For about 50 minutes, this version isn't in any way exceptional, and has nothing special going for it - in fact, at times, it is rather silly.
Then we get to a high noon duel in the streets of Paris - and you have to pause, and ask yourself - did I accidentally change channels and ran into a Sergeo Leone film? Because this scene is definitely good enough for "Once Upon a Time in the West"... accompanied as it is with Ennio Morricones score.
From this moment the film becomes faster, more intense and more interesting, until it culminates in the absolutely classic scene of Belmondo walking away towards the helicopter, with "Chi Mai" (bet you heard the tune before, and had no idea where it's from) accompanying him... -
BeneCumb19 August 2012Noble Paris, beautiful women, small local cars... At times Africa: poor, wars, corrupted elite... Themes of love, betrayal, broken dreams are universal and fit into a spy and hit-man film as well. Belmondo is a real star, overshadowing others in every scene he is in; I would like to compare his character with James Bond - only in French.
Music by Morricone is a real treasure, although it is somewhat similar to the background music from the Soviet cult series Seventeen moments of spring (1973).
The ending is strange, however, I would have expected and preferred a more motivated one. -
searchanddestroy-125 January 2022I can understand though that the dichotomy in this film between comedy and brutal and even tragic elements can disturb some viewers. But let's admit that this movie reunites all what Jean Paul Belmondo is able to do: action, comedy, acting. Everything here is smooth, without any length - its main quality - and Robert Hossein is so exquisite as the evil guy. This is also a downbeat story, despite the comic lines. This is the kind of story and characters that I love since my childhood. I won't even speak of the terrific Ennio Morricone' s score. One of my Belmondo's favourite, if not MY favourite.
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planktonrules10 December 2009This is an excellent film to watch provided you are able to suspend disbelief and just accept the movie for what it is. Otherwise, you will probably sit there and repeatedly say to yourself "this couldn't possibly have happened".
The film begins after quite a bit of back story has already taken place. What had happened up to the beginning was that Jean-Paul Belmondo is a French agent who was sent to Madagascar to kill the dictator. However, in a twist, the French government has changed their mind about the assassination AND decided to inform the King that Belmondo is coming to kill him. You never know why there is a change of heart AND betrayal of Belmondo. The film begins with him on trial for the plan and Belmondo won't betray his government--even though this is exactly what they'd done to him.
After two years in hard labor, Belmondo and another prisoner escape and eventually he makes his way to Paris. Now, angry and wanting retribution, he lets his old bosses know that he STILL intends to kill the King and will do so during his state visit to France. Why they didn't just cancel the King's visit, I have no idea. Instead, they try to both protect him and capture Belmondo. The problem, however, is that the French secret service is apparently manned by morons, as again and again, he is able to slip past them--in sort of a game of cat and mouse. At first, I thought this was kind of clever, but after a while it just seemed a bit...annoying. After all, no enemy is THAT stupid--and the police and secret service can't be that dumb, as Belmondo was one of them originally! In several cases, dozens or even hundreds of men surround a location--only to have Belmondo just sneak right in like it's no big deal! This is a severe handicap of the film--making him defeat and out-think the police could have been more interesting if the police hadn't been like the Keystone Kops.
However, despite this major complaint, there is a lot to like. Jean-Paul Belmondo is great. He does many of his own stunts and his athleticism was amazing. I especially loved his ability to take a fall or do acrobatics, but his style and acting also carried the film. I also loved the car chase--it was even better than such great chases as in DIVA and LA BALANCE--two other wonderful French films. Additionally, how the assassination went down at the end of the film was brilliant--once you got past the silliness of how he just slipped into the compound! Also, while many will no doubt dislike the downbeat ending, I thought is was excellent.
Overall, interesting and entertaining brain candy. With a smarter enemy, this film could have been fantastic.
By the way, a review that was written some time ago complained that the film was dubbed. The DVD I saw was, thankfully, captioned--not dubbed! Hurray! -
omullarn7 December 2010I do not understand the high rating and glowing reviews that this film has received. The plot points are weak; the acting is appalling, with each actor - except Belmondo, earning his rent money in a bored performance - chewing the scenery every chance they get. If it weren't for Belmondo, and the fondness so many of us have for him, I doubt this movie would score more than 3 out of 10.
Watch Le Samourai; watch Rififi, or Le Circle Rouge, or Bob Le Flambeur, or any number of really good French crime movies, with classic actors and you'll see why I gave this 2 out of 10, and even that is generous.