Les Assassins de l’ordre (1971) - film review

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)

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

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