Le Goût de la violence (1961) - film review

1890.  In a Latin American country, a bloody war is being fought between the guerilleros of General Guzman and soldiers of the powerful president Laragana.  To kidnap the president’s daughter Maria to serve the cause of the revolution, three men under the command of the utopian Perez attack the train in which Maria is travelling under protection of a military convoy.  After becoming their prisoner, Maria has to be taken to General Guzman’s headquarters to be traded for fifty rebels.  Perez, the spineless Chamaco and the young Chico must take flight, pursued by loyalist forces across a country which is scarred by civil war and senseless massacres.  During this long journey, a personal confrontation is inevitable between the three men.  Perez has one goal: to sacrifice everything for the cause.  Chamaco, a venal opportunist, wants to kill Perez and exchange their precious hostage for money.  Chico is more sentimental and becomes attached to Maria...
© Willems Henri (Brussels, Belgium)

On 30th August 1961, Parisians could discover Le Gout de la violence, the new film from actor/director Robert Hossein at the cinemas Français and Marignan.  For once, it was not a psychological thriller or a crime drama but a European western that, even with all the recognisable codes of its own, was a little bit ahead of its time.  This Franco-Italian German co-production was filmed in Montenegro, ex-Yugoslavia.  Hossein himself plays the leading role with, in a very small part, the marvellous Madeleine Robinson, who still went on acting until the 1990s but had her heyday in the 50s and 60s with Jean Gabin, Fernandel, Louis Jouvet, Gérard Philipe and Jean Marais, to name just a few.  Hossein is partnered here by the lovely Italian actrice Giovanna Ralli (who had worked with Lino Ventura, Bourvil and Bernard Blier) in an almost silent role.  The cast is completed by two German actors, the unknown Hans Neubert and the popular Mario Adorf, who lent his voice for the German post-synchronized version.

The original omnipresent music was supplied by Hossein’s father, the orchestra conductor André Hossein.  Jacques Robin’s black-and-white photography suits the intimate scenes and the panoramic country setting perfectly.  Filmed with sensitivity, this moving road-movie has some astonishing and lyrical moments.  Even with some sequences that are too long, and too many messages and reflections, the 82 minute runtime gives the script adequate depth and power.  The greatness comes from its simplicity and sobriety.  In one scene, Hossein gives us the certainty that he was visibly inspired by Marlon Brando’s film Viva Zapata - Perez (Hossein) and Maria (Ralli) arrive in a ghost town where they see a row of hanging men and, when recognizing one of them, Perez calls him Emiliano in what seems to be a specific reference to Emiliano Zapata, who was indeed hanged after being betrayed.  If director Sergio Leone (by the way, a good friend of Robert Hossein) admits he was later inspired by Hossein’s filming in his own spaghetti westerns, perhaps we should call this a little jewel of classic cinema, or is this excessive?   Le Gout de la violence (a.k.a. The Taste of Violence) has been available on DVD since March 2012.

© Willems Henri (Brussels, Belgium) 2012

Write a review for this film...

What do you think of this film?