Les Assassins du dimanche (1956)
Directed by Alex Joffé

Film Review

Alex Joffé may not have been the most prolific or well-regarded of French filmmakers, but his work shows a remarkable diversity and is distinguished as much by its unpretentious charms as its occasional burst of innovation.  His first film of real interest, Les Fanatiques (1957), is a slick suspense thriller that has the unusual feature of taking place in real time whilst anticipating the disaster movie that would become popular in a later decade.  Immediately before this, Joffé made another interesting film with a suspense component (possibly inspired by Hitchcock's earlier films), Les Assassins du dimanche, although this is more a morality play than a conventional thriller.  It is not hard to see why the film was endorsed by the Catholic Church.  It is one that intelligently explores the issue of individual and collective responsibility, and the film can easily be interpreted as a subtle commentary on the Occupation and France's not insignificant part in Hitler's Final Solution.  It's worth noting that Joffé would reference the Occupation directly in a later film, Fortunat (1960).

The excruciating guilt of a man realising that three innocent people may die through his actions is palpably rendered by Jean-Marc Thibault in an early leading role in his long and busy career.  Today, Thibault is far better known as a comic actor, through his partnership with Roger Pierre, but here he impresses with a solid dramatic performance that blazes with authenticity. Playing Thibault's garage apprentice is a young Georges Poujouly, now shaping up to be a fine actor after his memorable debut in René Clément's Jeux interdits (1952).  Paul Frankeur spent a large part of his career playing villains of various shades of nastiness, so it is natural he should play Thibault's morally inferior brother, whose "wait and see" philosophy very much reflects the attentiste attitude of the majority of the French population during the Occupation.  Michel André is a welcome addition to the cast - he plays the enterprising priest who saves the day, in a plot development that is surprising but pretty banal compared with the actor's wartime experiences, recounted in the film Les Evadés (1955), which he wrote and starred in.

The film makes the most of its suspense element (every shot of a vital nut slipping further down the steering wheel rod anticipates imminent disaster) but whilst this is important in driving the narrative and the main character's crisis of conscience there is more to the film than such cheap Hitchcockian thrills.  Les Assassins du dimanche is more interesting as a richly drawn portrait of a French rural community coming together and acting in unison to avoid the tragic outcome which one man alone is powerless to prevent.  It is surely no coincidence that the people who are in peril in the film are Germans, sympathetically portrayed but behaving in a reckless fashion that increases the likelihood of a tragic outcome.  There are some obvious socialist and political subtexts to the film (France needs to work with Germany and act as a united nation to safeguard the future), but more crucially it is about an individual taking responsibility for his actions and acting accordingly, no matter what the personal cost.  Because this theme still has currency, the film is probably the one directed by Joffé that continues to have the greatest resonance.  As is typical of the director's work, Les Assassins du dimanche does not labour the point but makes it effectively enough as part of an engaging piece of entertainment.

Film Synopsis

Robert Simonet is a provincial garage owner whose ambition is to be as successful as his former boss.  He is also a formidable amateur cyclist and is the favourite to win the cycling race to take place in his town.   On the eve of the tournament, he is given a wad of cash to repair a car for a customer who is obviously in a hurry.  By taking on this job, Robert forgets to complete the work on a Mercedes belonging to a German couple.  The next morning, Robert is called to tow away the first car after it has been involved in a head-on collision with another vehicle.  In his absence, the Germans collect their car and drive off for a tourist spree with Ginette, the daughter of Robert's ex-boss.  When he realises this, Robert is caught in a terrible personal dilemma.  If he goes to the police to warn them that, through his negligence, three people may die in a car accident, he may lose his reputation and his livelihood.  His brother persuades him it is too late to act - the German couple are probably already dead.  In the end, prompted by his infant son Toto, Robert has no choice but to accept responsibility for his mistake and inform the police.  To his horror they seem unwilling to take the matter seriously.  It is the local priest who comes up with a better solution...