Alain Cavalier doesn't carry the clout of his fellow French New Wave directors and the DVD release of this tough-nosed but predictable 1962 political allegory won't change that. It begins in Paris after midnight, where a husband (Jean-Louis Trintignant) and wife (Romy Schneider) are having problems... Because he's a right-wing terrorist who accepts deliveries of bazookas into their home. Betrayed after an attempted political assassination, he goes to ground to plot revenge while she contemplates a better life. Schneider's story packs the strongest emotional punch in Cavalier's tale of honour, betrayal and jealousy, but the political thread - - replete with exposé-style voiceover - - is a tad schematic.
Read the full Le Combat Dans L'ile review
Comments