Clement (Jean-Louis Trintignant, Il sorpasso) is a wealthy son of an industrialist who lives a secret life as a right-wing terrorist. Double-crossed following an assassination attempt he flees to the countryside with his wife, Anne (Romy Schneider, La piscine) where they stay with his childhood friend, Paul (Henri Serre, Jules et Jim). Clement plots his revenge but Anne falls for Paul and a love triangle is just one of many complications in this multi-layered discovery from the French New Wave. With the support of producer Louis Malle, Alain Cavalier (Fill ’Er Up with Super) directed his debut, a noirish drama beautifully shot by cinematographer Pierre Lhomme (Army of Shadows). While echoing the political turmoil of the 1960s, the film probes bourgeois values and the relationship between sex and violence, acting as a precursor to The Conformist and demonstrating the influence of Chabrol.
Technical Specifications
Supplements
- Interview with Alain Cavalier from French television show Cinema page (1962, 5 mins)
- Faire la mort: A commentary featurette by Alain Cavalier on photos from the Cinémathèque française (2011, 5 mins)
- Interview with star Jean-Louis Trintignant from the Belgian television show Cinescope (1983, 7 mins)
- The Succulence of Fruit: An interview with French critic Philippe Roger who provides an analysis of the film and Cavalier’s work (2020, 37 mins)
- Un Américain - Cavalier’s first short film about a sculptor who comes to Paris (1958, 17 mins)
- France 1961 - a short film made by Cavalier on the occasion of Zeitgeist’s DVD release of the film (2010, 13 mins)
- Behind-the-scenes photos including images from the archive of Louis Malle
- Trailer
- Limited edition booklet featuring new writing on the film by critic Ben Sachs who considers the film in the context of the French New Wave and genre filmmaking; and scholar and author of Late-Colonial French Cinema Mani Sharpe looks at the film and its political dimension