Défense de savoir (1973) - film review

A lawyer, Jean-Pierre Laubray, is appointed to defend Simone Hild, who has been arrested for the murder of her boyfriend, Jean Ravier.  Laubray’s investigations reveal that Ravier was a police informer as well as a strong-arm man in the electoral campaign of a politician named Cristani.  Through Cristani’s daughter, Juliette, Laubray learns there may be a connection with the tragic death of Cristani’s son, which happened on the same day as Ravier’s killing.  Laubray begins to suspect an ingenious cover up instigated some very senior and powerful people…

Défense de savoir is typical of the French crime thriller, or polar, which was the mainstay of 1970s French cinema.  A simple plot is distorted and rendered almost incomprehensible by a clumsy narrative structure which takes the idea of telling a story through flashbacks perhaps a little too far.

Whilst the film, like much of the genre from this époque, makes reasonably entertaining viewing if you are in the right frame of mind, some dodgy acting (can Jean-Louis Trintingant keep a straight face in his scenes with Bernadette Lafont?) and less than perfect dialogue mars the experience somewhat.

The film could be written off as little more than a vanity project for the Trintingant clan.  Jean-Louis stars opposite his wife, Nadine, who also directed the film.  Their 11 year old Marie appears in an unexpectedly key role – she is unquestionably the star of the film.

© James Travers 2000

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