|
Overview
L’Union sacrée is a French thriller film first released in 1989,
directed by Alexandre Arcady.
The film stars Richard Berry, Patrick Bruel, Bruno Cremer, Claude Brasseur and Saïd Amadis.
It has also been released under the title: Brothers in Arms.
Our overall rating for this film is: mediocre.
Synopsis
Simon Atlan, a Jewish anti-narcotics cop, is teamed up with Karim Hamida, secret agent
for an Arab government. Tensions between the two men run high as they investigate
an international drugs ring operating in state schools. They agree to bury their
differences when they learn that a diplomat Ali Radjani is behind a terrorist network
based in an Islamic Cultural Centre. Karim manages to infiltrate the centre by posing
as a fundamentalist, and is shocked by what he discovers. His cover blown, he narrowly
escapes death by Simon’s timely intervention. Radjani swears revenge and, a short
while later, Simon’s wife is killed in a terrorist attack. Simon will let nothing
prevent him from avenging the death of his wife. Karim’s orders are to stop him
at any cost…
Film Review
Richard Berry joins forces with Patrick Bruel in this pacy action thriller from Alexandre
Arcady. It’s a pairing that works surprisingly well, Berry’s darker, more restrained
approach making an effective contrast with Bruel’s more dynamic, expressive style of acting.
Like many of Arcady’s thrillers, it is somewhat marred by an excess of violence, dire
sentimentality and some criminal misuse of slow-motion photography. However, the
film’s main plot, about fundamentalist terrorism, is relevant and handled surprisingly
well, if one overlooks the botched ending. The action scenes are also generally
well choreographed, although the director’s infantile bloodthirstiness is to be regretted.
© James Travers 2006 Write a review for this film... User Comments
What do you think of this film?
Related links
More French Crime/ThrillerMore French Drama Recent DVD releases |
Credits
Similar films:
If you like this film you may also like the following: À la petite semaine (2003) À tout de suite (2004) L’Argent (1983) Le Cercle rouge (1970) Le Clan des Siciliens (1969) Le Couperet (2005) Flic Story (1975) Frantic (1988) Fred (1997) L’Horloger de Saint-Paul (1974) Les Liens du sang (2008) Mon colonel (2006) Mortelle randonnée (1983) Roberto Succo (2001) |


