Un papillon sur l’épaule (1978)

Un papillon sur l’épaule is a French thriller film first released in 1978, directed by Jacques Deray.  The film stars Lino Ventura, Claudine Auger, Paul Crauchet, Jean Bouise and Nicole Garcia.  It has also been released under the title: Butterfly on the Shoulder.  Our overall rating for this film is: very good.


Arriving in Barcelona to meet up with his wife, Roland Fériaud checks into a hotel and is surprised to find a dead man in the room next to his.   The next thing he knows is regaining consciousness in a deserted rest home, attended by a doctor who asks him a series of bizarre questions.  Returning to the hotel, Fériaud meets the wife of the dead man; she gives him the key to a left luggage locker, just before she too is killed, in a road accident.  When his wife is kidnapped, the now totally perplexed Fériaud receives instructions from a mysterious telephone caller to hand over a briefcase...

This chilling, exquisitely structured Kafkaesque thriller is a far cry from Jacques Deray’s more conventional plot-driven policiers (which all too often end up pandering to the egos of a few big name actors).  It is also, arguably, one of the best examples of the neo-polar (conspiracy thriller) genre, the kind of film that was very popular in the late 1970s.

The film features Lino Ventura, at the time the undisputed hard man of French cinema, renowned for playing tough, taciturn heroes with more than a touch of film noir panache.  Ventura’s performance is faultless; the actor conveys both the absurdity and the terror of the situation his character finds himself in, without overplaying either.

In many ways, this is one of Jacques Deray’s most sophisticated and appealing films – the cobweb intrigue is masterfully woven, the detached photography evokes the sense of an unseen deadly threat throughout, and the minimalist script emphasises the feeling of isolation and helplessness of the film’s principal protagonist.  It is a satisfying and compelling work, but also a profoundly disturbing one.

© James Travers 2006

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