La 7ème cible (1984) - film review

A retired journalist, Bastien Grimaldi, finds himself the victim of unknown assailants.  First he is ambushed and beaten up one evening; then he begins to receive threatening phone calls.  Neither he nor his entourage can understand this.  Bastien has no known enemies and is hardly a political target.  He reports this to the police but they prove ineffectual.  In the end he has no choice but to investigate the matter himself...

Claude Pinoteau directs this well-paced psychological thriller which features an excellent cast headed by the irreplaceable Lino Ventura.  The plot is more complex than usual but the film’s familiar neo-noir style and mounting suspense hold the spectator’s attention right up until the closing credits.  An impressive solid performance from Ventura (in one of his last film roles) sustains the film’s relentlessly oppressive mood, which is relieved only by a few brief moments of humour.  Pinoteau’s use of music to create atmosphere is carried to an operatic scale here, with the help of a hugely evocative score from composer Vladimir Cosma.

© James Travers 2004

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