Focal Point (1977) User Reviews (5)

Oswald's ghost

[VanheesBenoit · 6/10 · 13 December 2014]

For those who like fast moving plots and every two minutes at least three bodies, this movie (translated "Focal Point") will be a terrible disappointment. There will be three bodies for sure, but in the whole movie. It starts with a photographer, who dies – apparently accidentally - in Antwerp. His wife gets intrigued by the affair, not realizing that all here moves are closely watched by people she trusts, and even by her neighbors. Slowly but surely a plot is unveiled, that has lots of similarities with Lee Harvey Oswald's tragic adventure, if Arlen Spector will forgive me not to believe in magic... It's a so-so movie, very French, very 1970's, that seems sponsored by Gitanes cigarettes. The music alternates all the time, now you hear cheerful accordion, then it are somber, menacing notes. During the latter, often close ups of a black American car is personifying that looming menace, moving in for the final kill as a wolf pack.

Singer Jacques Dutronc ("worldfamous in France" with songs like "Il est cinq heures, Paris s'éveille" plays one of the conspirators, but that's rather PR than a real bonus. Serge Gainsbourg too did some similar stints, that must have been fun for his fans, but didn't really lifted those movies to a higher echelon. I'd rate Point de mire 6,5/10, it's not terribly bad, but it is not super either. If you like this kind of "lone nut" set ups, you'd better go for "I...comme Icare" with Yves Montand.

an innocent citizen getting caught up in a callous conspiracy

[myriamlenys · 7/10 · 27 December 2020]

A female photographer and news reporter is both saddened and shocked to learn that her estranged husband died during a business trip. The Antwerp police is convinced it's got all the answers : the said husband fell into the water while drunk as a skunk, and drowned. Consequently the file is closed, while the body of the deceased is released for burial. As time goes by, the widow begins to discover ever more sinister anomalies and question marks...

In the USA, the 1970's were a golden decade for more or less paranoid movies about government plots, malfeasance and political conspiracies. "Le point de mire" is proof positive that the genre existed in Europe too. It's a respectable entry into the genre, which evokes a growing sense of betrayal and despair : it is good at suggesting the evil hiding behind the familiar façade of everyday life. It's a pity that the dead husband remains a bit of a riddle, especially since he seemed quite a promising character. I found it hard to distinguish between the things he had done and discovered, versus the things other people thought/said/pretended he had done and discovered. But perhaps it's just me.

Annie Girardot gives a fine performance as a clever, competent, modern woman who, for once, runs into opponents she cannot understand or beat. (Still, her character lost a lot of sympathy points by mistreating an inoffensive house plant. Boo ! Justice and mercy for our green friends !) Jacques Dutronc is equally good, creating one of the more memorably disquieting villains of French cinema. Here is a neighbour you definitely do not want to meet...

Forgotten first film from a promising film maker who did little else afterwards..

[patate-2 · 7 July 1999]

Cast includes French stars Jacques Dutronc, Annie Girardot and Jean-Claude Brialy. Political thriller made it a candidate for US remake. Good script, good set, good acting and a nice Land Rover jeep. Unpredictable ending. Not a great flick, but comparable to most Hollywood thriller. Somewhat ahead of its time. I remember it 20 years after seeing it. What went wrong here? Films are like people. After they stop being seen, they stop existing. A candidate sleeper. Given a print in the video store circuit, I foresee a fair distribution. Someone must put his hands on rights and script.

Underrated French political thriller

[searchanddestroy-1 · 8/10 · 26 October 2020]

I love this kind of political thriller, gloomy, depressing but so unusual. of course, this movie seems clumsy if you compare it with THE French political thriller, among the best, I COMME ICARE, made a couple of years later, but this one is very interesting though, thanks to the ever fantastic Annie Girardot and also the outstanding Jacques Dutronc's performance. André Cayatte could have made it. Just notice that he gave us LA RAISON D'ETAT, one year later; very close scheme.

A poor man's "parallax view"

[dbdumonteil · 9 July 2003]

Pierre Boulle provided David Lean and Franklin J.Shaffner with two great stories:"bridge on the river Kwaï" (1957) and "planet of the apes " (1968)I've not read the Boulle novel which was adapted here.But I hope it's better than this listless dragging political thriller .A good cast (Annie Girardot,Jean Bouise ,Jean-Claude Brialy and the neglected Françoise Brion in a one-scene madam part) is wasted .The last sequence will remind Pakula's fans of his excellent "parallax view".But Tramont is not up to scratch.A sleeper?A sleeping pill more like!