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L'Insoumis
1964 Crime Thriller
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Credits
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Director: Alain Cavalier
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Script: Jean Cau, Alain Cavalier
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Photo: Claude Renoir
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Music: Georges Delerue
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Cast: Alain Delon (Thomas),
Lea Massari (Dominique Servet),
Georges Géret (le lieutenant Fraser),
Maurice Garrel (Pierre Servet),
Robert Castel (Amerio),
Viviane Attia (Maria),
Paul Claven (Felicien)
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Country: France
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Language: French
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Runtime: 115 min; B&W
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Aka: The Unvanquished
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Summary
When his wife leaves him, Thomas enlists in the French foreign legion and is posted to
Algeria. During the 1961 uprising, Thomas deserts and goes into hiding. One
day he receives an unexpected visit from his former lieutenant, who has also defected
and now works for the OAS, the group that opposes Algerian independence. Thomas
agrees to take part in a scheme to kidnap a lawyer, Dominique Servet, who is in Algiers
to defend some Algerian nationalists. Thomas finds himself attracted towards
his woman prisoner and, at the risk of his own life, helps her to escape back to France.
Injured in a fight with a fellow conspirator, Thomas struggles to make his way back home.
At first, he intends returning to his ex-wife and his infant child, but then he changes
his mind. He must see Dominique again. Little does he know that his enemies
are not far behind…
Review
Alain Cavalier directed this doom-laden mélange of thriller and romantic drama,
a pretty good example of 1960s French film noir. The film stars cinema icon Alain
Delon at a time when his popularity was very much in the ascendant. This was Alain
Cavalier’s second full-length film, after his well-received 1961 political thriller
Le Combat dans l’île, which featured
Delon’s real-life fiancée, Romy Schneider.
L’Insoumis not only afforded Alain Delon
one of his meatiest acting roles – a marvellous portrayal of existentialist abandonment
that is calculated to delight any film noir enthusiast – but it was also his first experience
of producing a film (in partnership with Georges Beaume). The experience was not
an entirely happy one – Delon sustained a number of physical injuries whilst making the
film, the censors insisted on a number of cuts which compromised the film’s artistic integrity,
and, on its release, the film received a distinctly lukewarm reception. It was Alain
Delon’s first real taste of failure.
The film’s subject matter may have been to
blame for its less than stunning box office receipts. The Algerian War had dragged
on for so long that virtually everyone in France was fed up with it and the outcome of
the conflict was a humiliating defeat for a proud nation. This is a pity because
L’insoumis is, in some ways, one of Cavalier’s
most inspired works. He uses film noir style photography to great effect and the
action scenes are masterfully staged. It also features Alain Delon at his near best,
bringing pathos and humanity to a typically hard man role.
© James Travers 2005
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