Der Mann mit der Torpedohaut

A late film from veteran French Director, Jean Delannoy, a name not previously known to me. Stephane Audran, always a welcome sight, stars with Lilli Palmer in a very low key performance and a late appearance from the ever welcome if not ever reliable, Klaus Kinski. Kinski is fine in this with a part that it seems likely was made to fit. I enjoyed this serious and downbeat tale of espionage. It was well shot and well crafted securing good performances from all. We are not guided to support either one side or the other and like Audran seem rather stuck in the middle as we desperately try to work out first what is happening and then how she might survive. There are several particularly good sequences, including the original incident and later a rather tense process where the police seem ready to close in. There is a also a most surprising and dramatic scene in which Audran is central and proves to be a pivotal moment in the film. Involving.