|
|
|
Le Choix des armes
1981 Crime / Thriller
| |
Credits
-
Director: Alain Corneau
-
Script: Alain Corneau, Peter Fernandez, Michel Grisolia
-
Photo: Pierre-William Glenn
-
Music: Philippe Sarde
-
Cast: Yves Montand (Noel Durieux),
Gérard Depardieu (Mickey),
Catherine Deneuve (Nicole Durieux),
Michel Galabru (Bonnardot),
Gérard Lanvin (Sarlat),
Jean-Claude Dauphin (Ricky),
Jean Rougerie (Raymond Constantini),
Christian Marquand (Jean),
Etienne Chicot (Roland Davout),
Richard Anconina (Dany),
Pierre Forget (Serge Olivier),
Roland Blanche (Fernand),
Marc Chapiteau (Savin),
Jean-Claude Bouillaud (Andre)
-
Country: France
-
Language: French
-
Runtime: 135 min
-
Aka: Choice of Arms
|
|
|
|
| |
Summary
Three criminals break out of prison and go on the run. In a bloody shootout, one
of them is wounded. His punk accomplice, Mickey, takes him to a remote country house
belonging to a former gangland boss, Noël Durieux. Whilst the latter tends
to his dying friend, Mickey drives off to Paris in a fit of pique. When he returns,
he finds Durieux’s house is being searched by the police. Thinking that the
retired gangster has betrayed him, Mickey heads back to Paris where he tries to reacquaint
himself with his young daughter. Police chief Bonnardot and his impulsive aide Sarlat
are tasked with bringing Mickey to justice, by any means. Sarlat confronts Mickey
at Noël’s home, but it is Noël’s wife Nicole who dies in the crossfire.
When Noël hears of this, he resolves to track down Mickey and kill him, not realising
that it was Sarlat who shot his wife...
Review
Director Alain Corneau shows consummate mastery of the policier
genre in this, his third, crime-thriller. Meticulously plotted, skilfully
assembled and wonderfully acted, Le Choix des armes
is one of the few French thrillers of the 1980s which respected the rules of the traditional
polar and which stands as a fine example of the genre. With understated accomplishment,
Corneau shows that he is a worthy successor to that undisputed master of the French crime-thriller,
Jean-Pierre Melville, and, appropriately, the film has more than a few Melvillesque touches.
Notions such as honour amongst hoodlums and the ambiguous moral position of crooks and
police underpin the plot, whilst the masculine world is portrayed, in true Melville fashion,
as something that is cold, violent and lonely. This is classic policier, lovingly
crafted, and immensely satisfying to all devotees of the genre.
It is hard to define which single ingredient makes this such a great film. Is it
Corneau’s near-faultless mise-en-scène,
Philippe Sarde’s creepy and evocative music, Michel Grisolia’s fine script,
Pierre-William Glenn's atmospheric, very noirish photography or some exemplary acting
from an extraordinary cast? The truth of the matter is that the film’s success
lies not in one single ingredient but in the cumulative effect of all of its components.
Although this is quite a long film, it manages to sustain the drama and suspense throughout,
the tension gradually building to an impressive – and surprising – conclusion.
One reason why the film is so compelling is that, despite being a genre film,
Corneau and Grisolia manage to avoid the obvious plot developments, and each character
in the film transcends the stereotype he or she initially appear to represent. On
the surface, this looks like any other classy French thriller, but look more closely and
a whole host of neuroses and detail become apparent. The characterisation is rarely
as well developed in a thriller as it is in this film. Even comparatively minor
characters are developed to the extent that they appear to have richly complex backgrounds.
Perhaps the film’s most memorable aspect is its set of lead actors, and
here we really are spoiled. Yves Montand and Gérard Depardieu are so appropriate
for the roles they play it is inconceivable to imagine anyone else in their place.
Whilst Montand is seductively cool and introspective, Depardieu is instantly repulsive,
a deranged, wildly expressive psychopath. Both are sinister portrayals of hardened
criminals, but whilst Depardieu is more disturbing, both are calculated to win over our
sympathy, albeit in subtly different ways. By contrast, the police are portrayed
as inefficient buffoons or gutless sharpshooters – Michel Galabru and Gérard
Lanvin respectively. Against this testosterone-laden backdrop of scheming and brutality,
Catherine Deneuve appears harrowingly vulnerable as the only significant female character
in the drama. Like a solitary candle illuminating a darkened room, Deneuve’s
presence emphasises the grim nihilist nature of the crime world, a touch of fragile humanity
in a universe of masculine perversity.
For enthusiasts of the French crime-thriller,
Le Choix des armes is a must-see film.
Not only does it confirm Alain Corneau’s standing as one of French cinema’s
most accomplished directors, but it is a captivating work that will induce you to watch
other films of the genre. This is a film noir in which the word “noir”
is distinctly pronounced, with a grim relish – and perhaps a touch of sorrow.
© James Travers 2004
|
|
Buy this film:
|
|
|
|
