Solidrariol
Am I Missing Something?
Stephan Hammond
It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,
Michelle Ridley
The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity
info-627-664439
Robert Enrico's 1974 "Le Secret" was obviously supposed to be one of those paranoid thrillers from the seventies and the marvel is at how simply it was done. In that sense you can say it was very well done. But to look at it more carefully, up against other more complex paranoid thrillers, the person who is "it"" must have a clearly, for our sake as the world/society will ultimately benefit without Intelligence making up our minds for us that an incredibly life changing "secret" can not be revealed and all who know it or possibly could stumbled upon its being able to shed light on our perspectives, other than what Intelligence wants us to be kept in the dark about, the person on the run should know where to take the secret for the best possible chances of it doing any good. In Robert Enrico's film, that avenue is not explored, and the film becomes a rather ordinary TV movie of the week with fine actors like Jean-Louis Trintignant as "David" (our agent); Marlene Jobert as "Julia" (the woman) (in a fine performance once again) and Phillip Noiret (as her husband "Thomas," friend of mankind and understanding and trusting of the agent as mankind should). Written by Robert Enrico (who previously directed the very fine "The Adventuriers" (1970)) with Pascal Jardin (dialogue) and from the novel "Le Compagnon Indesirable" by Francis Ryck, with Etienne Becker as director of photography and Ennio Morricone providing the score, the film is still rather devastating. In the day of the complex paranoid thriller, the simplicities of "Le Secret" are likely to be forgotten, and that, too, is sad.
atenxm1
Want to see a movie that leaves you uneasy, paranoid, makes you question the reality you're presented with? Scared to go out and scared to stay in? But at all cost, distracts you from mundane reality? This is one film that does that. Forget movies that rely on lavish helpings of gore and blood, gratuitous violence, habitual screaming and endless repetition of expletives. That's not scary any more. It was only ever shocking, really, and nowadays people seem to have become used to that. No, this is a French film. No clichéd devices such as explosions of discordant noise to startle you when you least expect it. Instead, something excruciatingly sinister somehow manages to silently creep out from this film, like a miasma. A chilling, clammy, atmosphere that's reinforced by subtle but compelling acting and directing. Did you hear a noise just then . . .?I've seen this film only a few times over the years as an adult, but I was still left disturbed by it each time. I didn't exactly 'have to leave the light on' when I went to bed afterwards. But, let's say, it left a permanent impression on me. It's the way it's executed, you see. I'm too macho to admit to anything more. For connoisseurs of effective films of this genre, this is a must for the collection. You'll end up looking over your shoulder after seeing this film. Unless, of course, they come for you too . . . .
Gerald A. DeLuca
"Le Secret," a French movie directed by Robert Enrico, stars Jean Louis Trintignant as a man who has stumbled accidentally upon a state "secret." We never find out exactly what it is, but it is something so awesome and so dangerous that the government first confines him to a mental ward and then hunts him down to eliminate him once he manages to escape. There are some shades of Robert Aldrich's "Kiss Me Deadly" here.After his escape the man is befriended by Philippe Noiret who plays a character of supernatural goodness reminiscent of his role in "The Clockmaker." Noiret and his less altruistic wife Marlène Jobert harbor and protect the man while they wonder whether he is telling them the truth or is indeed the killer which the authorities say is on the loose. Their uncertainty will cost them dearly.The movie is weakened by our never knowing what hideous truth the man has uncovered (a sort of unexplicated Hitchcockian 'MacGuffin') and by an overly oblique directorial style from the man who gave us the unforgettable "Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." The principals, nevertheless, are uniformly excellent, and the shock ending managed to frighten me a great deal.
Klaas-2
Under mysterious circumstances a strange guy (well played by Trintignant) escapes from some underground asylum. He finds refuge with a couple of fringe people of 68 who seemed to have retired to a tranquil life somwhere in the south of France. The strange visitor revives old dreams and memories and represents new opportunities to make something more out of life. The couple, superbly played by Philippe Noiret and Marlène Jobert, have each their own reasons to be interested and intrigued by the visitor. After a series of sometimes menacing, sometimes hylarious events, always impregnated with a subdued tension, the movie ends somewhere in the emptiness of some isolated beach.This is a very good movie. The images and the playing show a lot but also leave a lot to be guessed by the watcher. It makes a point (about Big Brother who is watching you) and is mysterious enough to remain full of tension.
