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Les Seins de glace
1974 Thriller / Drama / Horror
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Credits
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Director: Georges Lautner
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Script: Georges Lautner, based on the novel "Someone Is Bleeding" by Richard Matheson
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Photo: Maurice Fellous
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Music: Philippe Sarde
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Cast: Alain Delon (Marc Rilson),
Mireille Darc (Peggy Lister),
Claude Brasseur (François Rollin),
Fiore Altoviti (Denis Rilson),
Emilio Messina (Steig),
André Falcon (Eric Carner),
Michel Peyrelon (Albert),
Nicoletta Machiavelli (Mrs. Rilson)
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Country: France
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Language: French
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Runtime: 105 min
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Aka: Icy Breasts; Icy Flesh; Someone Is Bleeding
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Summary
A television scriptwriter François Rollin is walking on the beach in Nice when
he encounters Peggy, a mysterious blonde to whom he is instantly attracted. Despite
her attempts to push him away, François trails Peggy to her home – a secluded
villa – where he sees her embrace another man. The latter turns out to be
Peggy’s lawyer, Marc Rilson, who warns François that the young woman is mentally
ill. According to Marc, Peggy killed her husband and is incapable of having a normal
relationship with any man. François is immediately suspicious and, realising
that Peggy is in great danger, decides to rent an apartment with her. The plan goes
horribly wrong…
Review
Although he is best remembered for his eccentric comedies, notably Les
Tontons flingueurs (1963), Georges Lautner also directed a number of respectable thrillers,
in the classic French policier mould. Les Seins
de glace is one such film and, thanks mainly to some respectable acting performances
and glossy production values, it stands as one of Lautner’s most memorable forays
into the realm of psychological thriller.
The film is based on a novel by the American writer Richard Matheson, although Lautner
made a number of significant changes to give the central story a more human dimension.
With one notable exception, every character in the film appears to be the villain and
even when it is obvious who the murderer is the sense of mystery and intrigue prevails
right up to the end. The film’s first half is particularly well-constructed,
creating a mood and style that is unmistakably Hitchcockian. Some downplayed comic
touches lighten the tone appropriately in just the right places, just before another chilling
plot development hits us in the face. Things become tangled in the second half as
the film begins to resemble more and more a conventional crime-thriller, although the
beautifully framed, and highly poignant, ending is certainly worth holding out for.
The film stars real-life couple Alain Delon and Mireille Darc. Unusually, Delon
allows himself to stay in the background for much of the film, allowing the alluring Mireille
Darc to take centre stage. It is more Darc’s film than Delon’s, and
the beautiful blond actress gives what is most likely her best performance as the mysterious
Peggy. Never has Darc’s “come hither” smile appeared so sinister
as in this film, creating just the right note of ambiguity for us to ponder on her character’s
sanity. Only Claude Brasseur’s “love is blind” romantic
optimism persuades us otherwise – which probably explains why the truth, when it
is revealed to us, is so hard to accept, and so utterly shocking.
© James Travers 2005
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