El que debe morir

"Celui qui doit mourir" (He who must die) is one of many fine films directed by Jules Dassin, who was born in 1911. At the advanced age of 93, Dassin would merit a special live tribute since he had to suffer blacklisting and was still able to direct in exile such masterpieces as "Rififi", "Never on Sunday", "Topkapi" and "He who must die". This last movie takes place in a village in Greece, occupied by the Turks, showing the different attitudes adopted by the people face to the occupant. There is a big contrast between two priests: the rigid Grigoris (interpreted by Fernand Ledoux) and the compassionate Photis (Jean Sevais, also in "Rififi"). This was also Melina Mercouri's first collaboration with her future husband, playing a proud but very human prostitute. Among the actors, mostly French, one can not avoid mentioning the late Maurice Ronet, René Lefèvre, Roger Hanin and Pierre Vaneck, whose Manolios is probably the most important character. Also Gert Fröbe, Carl Möhner and Gregoire Aslan have astounding performances. This movie probably a bit forgotten merits a release in DVD since I do not believe it is available at present in this format. It deserves the maximum qualification (10) and let us be hopeful that Dassin who was born in the US but had to emigrate to Europe will receive a recognition for such a brilliant career.