Film Review
One of the most iconic screen actors of the 1970s, Alain Delon turned his hand
to directing in the 1980s, starting
with this conventional action-packed policier in which he - not surprisingly - took the
leading role. Having previously starred in a dozen or so crime-thriller films,
Delon would seem ideally placed to direct such a film - particularly when he had previously
served under such distinguished masters of the genre as Jean-Pierre Melville, Jacques
Deray and José Giovanni. Delon the film director is not nearly as impressive
as Delon the actor, but
Pour la peau d'un flic is a respectable debut effort, and
actually makes rather a good policier for its time. Delon followed this
with two other watchable thrillers:
Le Choc (1982)
and
Le Battant (1983).
Starring alongside Delon in this film is the young Anne Parillaud, a decade before she
would become a cult figure for her leading role in Luc Besson's thriller
Nikita
(1990). Parillaud and Delon work together well, each bringing an unexpected
self-deprecating sense of humour - a side which is rarely seen in Delon's
films (presumably because his directors thought it might tarnish the tough Delon image).
Although the film is generally well structured, it does ultimately get a little tangled
up in its exposition - a fault typical of many French thrillers of this époque,
as screen writers attempted to be even more clever with their plots. Fortunately,
there are plenty of treats to keep the spectator of average intelligence engaged and entertained
- a charismatic male lead, a sexy female sidekick, a spectacular nocturnal car chase and,
of course, loads of gratuitous body pulverising violence.
© James Travers 2003
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next Alain Delon film:
Le Choc (1982)
Film Synopsis
Choucas gave up working as a regular cop some years ago and now he earns
his crust as a private detective, assisted by his old friend Haymann.
His methods are not those that his erstwhile colleagues would approve of,
but this is what gives him his edge over the police. It is through one
such colleague, Superintendent Coccioli, that he takes on the case of a missing
blind girl. What appears at first to be a straightforward kidnapping
soon turns out to be something far more serious when the girl's elderly mother,
Madame Pigot, is shot dead in front of Choucas before she can supply him
with valuable information.
The detective is still trying to make sense of this bizarre turn of events
when he starts receiving threats from an unknown aggressor. He is then
attacked by a police officer intent on murdering him. To save himself,
Choucas is forced to kill the aggressive cop, but he then finds himself charged
with two murders. As he goes on the run, the detective realises that
if the police don't get him his real enemy - whoever that might be - almost
certainly will. The stakes are raised even higher when Choucas's secretary
and mistress, Charlotte, is abducted. The detective now finds he must
risk his own skin to prevent an innocent woman from being the killers' next
victim...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.