Le Fils (1973) - film review

Ange Orahona decides to take a break from his gangster life in New York and returns to his rural hometown of Montemaggiore on the island of Corsica.  When he arrives he finds that his mother is on her deathbed and that his former girlfriend, Maria, has married his younger brother, Baptiste.  Ange’s nostalgic reunion with his happy past is marred by the discovery that his father was shot dead a few months earlier.  No one is prepared to talk about the killing except to say that it was a hunting accident.  Then Ange notices that he is being trailed by two suspicious-looking men...

In this unusual and distinctive dramatic thriller popular actor Yves Montand is perfectly cast as the suave gangster boss who is compelled to confront his past and his own mortality, with grim consequences.  Under the direction of Pierre Granier-Deferre, Montand skilfully avoids the familiar film stereotypes and manages to give one of his most respectable screen performances, one that is unusually dark and introspective, and also rather poignant.

The film’s B-movie plot is somewhat less impressive and is largely unconvincing, particularly its bog-standard “thriller” strand involving two homicidal property developers and an oh-so predictable ending.  Fortunately, the other main story strand, which focuses on Ange’s re-acquaintance with his former girlfriend and family, is more substantial and better realised, compensating for the deficiencies elsewhere in the script.


© James Travers 2004

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