L'Arme à gauche (1965)
Directed by Claude Sautet

Action / Crime / Thriller
aka: The Dictator's Guns

Film Review

Abstract picture representing L'Arme a gauche (1965)
Although his first action thriller, Classe tous risques, was ill-received by both critics and cinema goers, director Claude Sautet persevered a made a second film in the same genre, again with Lino Ventura in the lead role.  That film, L'Arme à gauche, proved an even bigger flop than its predecessor and was the last film of its kind which Sautet made.  In the following decades, the director found much greater success with his low-key sentimental dramas, including the masterful Les Choses de la vie (1969), César et Rosalie (1972) and Un Coeur en hiver (1992).

L'Arme à gauche is adapted from Charles Williams' potboiler novel Aground and is, as action thrillers go, not a bad example of its genre. It boasts an impressive cast, and also some excellent location photography which gives it more visual impact than most French policiers of this era. After a slow start, in which the main characters are introduced to us in typically Sautet-esque fashion, the film suddenly switches gear at around its mid-point, taking us into the film's suspenseful final forty minutes.  Lino Ventura is - as ever - magnificent as the tough (but by no means infallible) good guy, his unconventional looks making him a welcome change from the familiar pretty boy action hero.  Leo Gordon plays the principal villain of the piece, the gun-toting Morrison - a stereotypical bad guy which the actor manages to bring a sinister edge to.

For those who are familiar with Sautet's later films, L'Arme à gauche will come as something of a surprise.  There is a hint of romance between the male and female leads but for the most part this is a conventional, cold-blooded thriller.  Here, the aim of the game is not to cope with one's emotional crises but simply to stay alive for as long as possible...
© James Travers 2004
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next Claude Sautet film:
Les Choses de la vie (1970)

Film Synopsis

Whilst staying in the Caribbean, sailor Jacques Cournot, is hired by businessman Hendrix to check out a luxury yacht the latter is planning to buy.  Shortly after Cournot gives Hendrix his report, the yacht goes missing, at the same time as a violent storm hits the area.  Initially suspected by the police of having stolen the yacht, Cournot is employed by the yacht's owner, Mrs Osborne, to find it.  With the help of a friend who owns a  hydroplane, Cournot and Osborne eventually trace the missing yacht, which has run aground offshore.  When they board the stranded boat, Cournot and Osborne are surprised to find Hendrix and a band of gunrunners, led by the murderous Morrison.   The latter threatens to kill the newcomers unless they help to get the yacht and its cargo of ammunition to the coast…
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.


Film Credits

  • Director: Claude Sautet
  • Script: Michel Audiard, José Luis Dibildos, Charles Williams (novel), Claude Sautet, Fouli Elia, Michel Lévine
  • Cinematographer: Walter Wottitz
  • Music: Eddie Barclay, Michel Colombier
  • Cast: Lino Ventura (Jacques Cournot), Sylva Koscina (Rae Osborne), Leo Gordon (Morrison), Alberto de Mendoza (Hugo Hendrix), Antonio Martín (Ruiz), Jean-Claude Bercq (Avery), Jack E. Leonard (Keefer), Michel Roux (Hugo Hendrix), Antonio Casas, Ángel del Pozo, José Jaspe, Ángel Menéndez
  • Country: France / Italy / Spain
  • Language: French / Spanish / English
  • Support: Black and White
  • Runtime: 103 min
  • Aka: The Dictator's Guns

The very best fantasy films in French cinema
sb-img-30
Whilst the horror genre is under-represented in French cinema, there are still a fair number of weird and wonderful forays into the realms of fantasy.
The best of Indian cinema
sb-img-22
Forget Bollywood, the best of India's cinema is to be found elsewhere, most notably in the extraordinary work of Satyajit Ray.
The very best of Italian cinema
sb-img-23
Fellini, Visconti, Antonioni, De Sica, Pasolini... who can resist the intoxicating charm of Italian cinema?
The best of American film noir
sb-img-9
In the 1940s, the shadowy, skewed visual style of 1920s German expressionism was taken up by directors of American thrillers and psychological dramas, creating that distinctive film noir look.
The best French Films of the 1910s
sb-img-2
In the 1910s, French cinema led the way with a new industry which actively encouraged innovation. From the serials of Louis Feuillade to the first auteur pieces of Abel Gance, this decade is rich in cinematic marvels.
 

Other things to look at


Copyright © filmsdefrance.com 1998-2024
All rights reserved



All content on this page is protected by copyright