SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Senteur As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

lost-in-limbo A young woman who watches a stranger get off a bus in the pouring rain, soon finds out she's being stalked by that exact man. When at home, the man breaks into her house (as her husband is away) and rapes her. Later on after the ordeal the man still happens to be the house, but she grabs a shotgun and shoots him. Where she would dump the body into the ocean. Then suddenly another man appears on the scene named Harry Dobbs, who goes out of the way to try to convince the young woman she committed a murder without giving too much away.This tightly handled low-budget French / Italian co-production is an improbable, but an oddly bold and stimulating teaser that seems straight forward at first, then suddenly it leads you down many knotty paths (with Hitchcock shades) before breaking out the truth of the matter. It's a real curiously acute piece (adapted from a novel) by director Rene Clement, who gets interestingly respectable performances out of very fitting Charles Bronson (whose character is a hard one to figure out) and Marlene Jobert adding some innocent starch to her role. The film / story really do draw from these two performances in dissecting the character's formal makeup and inner workings in how they play a big part to the scheme of things. It's hard to tell the lingering intentions behind the bigger picture, as it becomes exhaustingly confounding in its investigative details and suggestive developments. The productively sharp script is thoroughly meticulous in disguising the truth; as barriers are broken to only go on to create new scenarios and leads. Stark, moody atmospherics lend well to Clement's leeringly grounded, subdued style where it really breathes of a quiet intensity to its continuously building psychological framework and dour visuals within its slow-going nature. The gloomy opening stages really do build upon a creepy ambiance, which pulls you in and the score is sparsely used, but has a dramatic sting. The performances outside the central turns are finely tailored with the likes of Annie Cordy, Ellen Bahl, Jean Gaven, Steve Eckardt and Jill Ireland in one her first roles starring alongside Bronson.

dbdumonteil At the time ,Clement's career was slipping ,slowly but inexorably.This thriller is not "plein soleil" (the first version of "the talented M.Ripley )or even "les félins" ,by a long shot.After the twenty first minutes which promise great things ,the screenplay peters out and we 're left with Marlene Jobert's grimaces and Bronson's tricks.Pretension has showed up too:quoting Lewis Caroll is not enough to create mystery and suspense.It's the supporting cast that walks away with the honors:Annie Cordy,who tackled here her first dramatic part ,is very convincing and Corinne Marchand ("Cleo de 5 à7" star) plays a small part too.It was bad but René Clément was to sink lower with his three last works ("la maison sous les arbres" "la course du lièvre à travers champs" and "la babysitter") ,a sad and tatty end for a director who gave us ,outside "plein soleil" ,such gems as "forbidden games" or "les maudits".

Bruce Jones I find it hard to say why exactly but I liked this film. It was well made, well acted and different enough that it wasn't the usual predictable Hollywood pulp. I'd recommend it for anyone who has more than a few brain cells to rub together as at least a refreshing change of pace that shows films can be both different and entertaining.Charles Bronson has a reputation for making mostly the other kinds of films so this is very different for him. The French spin adds something hard to define but enjoyable. The female lead is wonderful to watch too.I found I really enjoyed the sets and locations and, yes, especially the rain. Perhaps rain overdoes some moodiness in a way but I find I love to see a film with rain in it as a backdrop. Maybe that comes from living in a place where I rarely see and real rain.Nevertheless, I'd buy this if I could find it locally, especially if it was on wide format DVD. I don't think anyone who was behind the project gave it enough support when it was a new film (I originally saw it in an "art house" cinema) and I certainly don't think the mainstream types will support it now. I think it's a rare gem of film making and deserves to be preserved, owned and watched by lots of new people. I'll keep looking for it along with other rare but obscure gems I'd love to own.

glycon2001 I disagree heartily with the idea that this film is all talk. the subtle symbolism alone is enough to keep any real film collector interested e.g., the use of the colors red and white, charlie always leaning on his right leg only, the walnut trick, etc...)the music score by francis lai is both beautiful and haunting. the dialouge and pacing is almost hitchcock-like in nature.along with charles trieschmann's film "two", would make an evening of fine film-going.