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Overview
Les Assassins de l’ordre is a French crime film first released in 1971,
directed by Marcel Carné.
The film stars Jacques Brel, Catherine Rouvel, Paola Pitagora, Charles Denner and Michael Lonsdale.
It has also been released under the title: Law Breakers.
Our overall rating for this film is: very good.
Synopsis
Judge Level is investigating the death of a man named Saugeat, who died
shortly after being arrested for a minor offence by two police
inspectors one December morning. No one seems to want to offer
any testimony, other than the prostitute Danièle Lebegue, who
calls on Level as soon as she hears the news of Saugeat’s death.
She tells the judge that she couldn’t come earlier because she was
instructed by Chief Inspector Bertrand to leave Paris for a short
while. It becomes apparent to Level that someone is trying to
hide something from him...
© Willems Henri (Brussels, Belgium) Film Review
Marcel Carné’s penultimate fictional film is a superlative
example of the kind of gritty political thriller that would become
highly popular in France in the mid to late 1970s. This
néo-polar, popularised by such highly regarded directors as Yves
Boisset and José Giovanni, reflected failings in the French
judicial and political system at the time, in the aftermath of the May
’68 protests and the collapse of the De Gaulle presidency.
An atypical kind of film for Carné, who is best known for his
dark romantic dramas, Les Assassins
de l’ordre demonstrates the versatility of one of France’s
greatest filmmakers.Carné made this film at a time when his career was very much in decline, largely as a result of virulent attacks from some high-profile critics who were quick to dismiss him as out-dated and a mere shadow of his former brilliance. When Les Assassins de l’ordre was first released, the reviews it garnered were mostly pretty scathing and its director was condemned for trying to imitate another filmmaker, André Cayatte, as if the latter had the monopoly on legal dramas. Whilst this is by no means Carné’s greatest film, it is a good example, of the kind of intelligent crime drama that was generally well-received in the 1970s. What makes this a particularly memorable film is the arresting central performance from Jacques Brel, who was not only a highly talented musician but also a very respectable actor. Brel’s gripping portrayal of an ordinary magistrate determined to shed light on the unlawful killing of a police detainee is poignant and intense. There are some great contributions from the supporting cast - particularly Charles Denner and Catherine Rouvel – but it is Jacques Brel who most grabs our attention and gives the film its emotional and dramatic thrust, In common with many of Marcel Carné’s later films, Les Assassins de l’ordre is far better than the critics of the day would have us believe and definitely deserves a fresh reappraisal. © James Travers 2011 Write a review for this film... User Comments
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Credits
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