Le jeu de la vérité

A group of bored, upper-crust malcontents who don't like each other much gather in a rococo mansion on a stormy night to await the arrival of a universally hated peer who says he knows a secret about one of them that's worth millions. He comes and gets offed during a revealing "game of truth" but that's no guarantee the secret's safe -and, of course, whodunit?

An Agatha Christie-style "drawing room murder mystery" (literally, there's only the one set) made more interesting than it has any right to be by avant-garde mise-en-scène created entirely by character placement and a jazzy score (courtesy of Hossein's dad, Andre) that provides dramatic punctuation. The cast (director Hossein, Jean Servais, Jean- Louis Trintignant for the men and Nadia Gray, Françoise Prévost, Daliah Lavi for the ladies, among others) is impressive and without them it'd be well nigh interminable but I still found it overly convoluted and a bit claustrophobic. It's very talky, too, but, reely, what else can it do? I much preferred the confined spaces of Luis Buñuel's later EXTERMINATING ANGEL and Julien Duvivier's earlier MARIE-OCTOBRE but my favorite is still WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? Milage will no doubt vary.

Another Robert Hossein little gem that should be restored to favor.It might be ,relatively speaking,his discreet charm of the bourgeoisie. A dozen of elegant people are gathered in a writer's desirable mansion .In the grand tradition of Agatha Christie ,they all have got something to hide.They begin a cruel game of truth ,a game where you're not supposed to tell lies.As the questions become more and more intimate and precise,the tempers rise ,while outside the storm is raging.Enter a hateful person (played by Paul Meurisse ,the nasty headmaster in "les diaboliques") who seems to know a lot about them.He's murdered.Whodunit?

Hossein creates a stifling atmosphere and although the characters do not move outside of the apartment,he avoids filmed stage production traps.Good cast including Jean-Louis Trintignant ,Jean Servais and Robert Hossein himself.Cast and credits come at the end only ,like in many films of today."Continuously" best describes its construction.

As well as being a prolific performer on both stage and screen, Robert Hossein has also found time to direct twenty-four films, most of which he has either adapted or for which he has written the original screenplay.

The material here is predictable and far from being inspired but is rendered bearable by the charismatic Paul Meurisse, Jean Servais and Jean-Louis Trintignant together with a handful of actresses who exhibit an elegance and refined sensuality that is alas gone forever. Hossein himself does a turn as a far from conventional policeman. He and his cinematographer Christian Matras have manoeuvered the cast around a single set designed by Jean André although the overall effect is somewhat static. The director's father provides his customarily insipid score which contributes nothing whatsoever to the drama.

Monsieur Hossein's output has generally been regarded as possessing more style than substance which is a little unfair but that criticism certainly applies here.

I would strongly advise you not to play this game at home for as Oscar Wilde reminds us: "the Truth is seldom pure and never simple."