Il faut vivre dangereusement (1975) - film review

One night, private detective Edouard Lory is killed and thrown from a train.  When the police find his body, they find a packet of drugs in his jacket and are quick to dismiss the death as a revenge killing between drugs dealers.  Richard Diquet, another private eye who knew Lory, is not convinced and is about to begin his own investigation when he is contacted by a businessman, Murdoc, to keep a close eye on a young woman named Lorraine.  The latter is the mistress of the wealthy industrialist Germain Badinget, who happens to be Murdoc’s brother.  It isn’t long before Diquet realises he is being duped and that the real object of his investigation is not Germain but a priceless jewel...

Il faut vivre dangereusement is a well-intentioned parody of the American film noir thriller, although, with its Grand Guignol killings, endless bedroom antics and surfeit of unsubtle erotica it has a distinctly French feel to it.  This was the one and only full length film to be directed by Claude Makovski, based on a novel by Raymond Marlot with a screenplay co-authored by Nelly Kaplan, who is better known for her work as an actress and director of some repute.  The film has its flaws – the uneven narrative and convoluted plot being the worst offenders – but it also has a certain charm.  The pairing of Annie Girardot and Claude Brasseur as an unlikely crime-fighting duo works surprisingly well and there some terrific jokes (of the laugh-out-loud variety) which seem to come at the most unexpected moments.  Perhaps not the best comedy thriller in French cinema, but Il faut vivre dangereusement is distinctive, unpredictable and mildly entertaining.

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