Barocco (1976)

Barocco is a French thriller film first released in 1976, directed by André Téchiné.  The film stars Isabelle Adjani, Gérard Depardieu, Marie-France Pisier, Jean-Claude Brialy and Julien Guiomar.  Our overall rating for this film is: mediocre.


A young woman, Laure, plans to go abroad with her boyfriend, the boxer Samson, after having profited from a huge bribe in a seedy electoral campaign.  However, before they can leave the country, Samson is killed by a stranger who bears an uncanny physical resemblance to Samson.  Laure is haunted by the killer but, litle by little, she begins to find herself attracted towards him.

Barocco is in essence a great film which has been savagely mutilated through a combination of not entirely convincing acting and excessively self-conscious photography.  It features one of Isabelle Adjani’s worst screen performances (which is saying something) and Depardieu doesn’t really get the opportunity to show his talent as a great actor.  Whilst the acting is far from impressive, this is less irksome for the spectator than Bruno Nuytten’s laboured, almost pretentious, cinematography, which seems to stifle the life out of the film.

Despite its failings, the film is a curious and haunting work, occasionally allowing us to see the major achievement it could have been.  It also presages some of André Téchiné subsequent better films with its twisted film noir characters and dark, dramatic intensity.

© James Travers 1999

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