Les Yeux cernés (1964)
Directed by Robert Hossein

Crime / Thriller
aka: Marked Eyes

Film Review

Abstract picture representing Les Yeux cernes (1964)
In common with many of Robert Hossein's directorial efforts, Les Yeux cernés is a film that is stylish, moody and intensely evocative of its period, but disappointingly lacking in substance. Even with the combined acting talents of Hossein, Michèle Morgan and Marie-France Pisier, the film fails to convince, essentially because the plot is so ludicrously transparent that you have to be a comatose dimwit not to work out the identity of the killer and the blackmailer within the first ten minutes.

Like Hossein's earlier (and slightly better) films Les Scélérats (1959) and Le Jeu de la vérité (1961), the surfeit of surface style does not distract us for long from the yawning vacuity of a clockwork narrative that is populated by two-dimensional automata making a poor job of convincing us that they are human beings. The film's only real interest is the imaginative way in which it is shot and edited, which does at least convey a mood of mounting oppression and paranoia, although this would clearly have had much greater impact if more effort had gone into refining the script. Les Yeux cernés is rich in sixties cool of the most superficial kind, but pretty bereft of depth and human interest.
© James Travers 2009
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next Robert Hossein film:
Le Vampire de Düsseldorf (1965)

Film Synopsis

When Vollmer, the owner of a sawmill, is shot dead in a small Austrian town, there is no shortage of suspects.  Friedrich, the inspector leading the police investigation, learns that Vollmer, a tough and ruthless man, was hated by just about everyone, including his estranged wife.  Not long after her arrival in the town, Madame Vollmer begins to receive anonymous letters from someone who promises to reveal to her the identity of the killer in exchange for a large sum of money.  The widow immediately feels threatened and confides her fears in her husband's former manager, Franz.  But, Madame Volver's anxiety soon turns to paranoia and she becomes convinced that it is Franz who is her enemy...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.


Film Credits

  • Director: Robert Hossein
  • Script: Claude Desailly, Robert Hossein, André Tabet, Georges Tabet
  • Cinematographer: Jean Boffety
  • Music: André Hossein
  • Cast: Robert Hossein (Franz), Michèle Morgan (Florence), Marie-France Pisier (Klara), François Patrice (Friedrich), Pascal Mazzotti (Le notaire), Yvette Etiévant (L'hôtelière), Paul Mercey (L'hôtelier)
  • Country: France
  • Language: French
  • Support: Black and White
  • Runtime: 100 min
  • Aka: Marked Eyes

The very best French thrillers
sb-img-12
It was American film noir and pulp fiction that kick-started the craze for thrillers in 1950s France and made it one of the most popular and enduring genres.
The best French films of 2018
sb-img-27
Our round-up of the best French films released in 2018.
The Golden Age of French cinema
sb-img-11
Discover the best French films of the 1930s, a decade of cinematic delights...
The very best American film comedies
sb-img-18
American film comedy had its heyday in the 1920s and '30s, but it remains an important genre and has given American cinema some of its enduring classics.
The best French war films ever made
sb-img-6
For a nation that was badly scarred by both World Wars, is it so surprising that some of the most profound and poignant war films were made in France?
 

Other things to look at


Copyright © filmsdefrance.com 1998-2024
All rights reserved



All content on this page is protected by copyright