Les seins de glace

It is to my knowledge the only novel by the great Richard Matheson to have been transferred to the screen by a French director.

Georges Lautner,who made Mireille Darc a star in the sixties was responsible for ponderous comedies.From time to time,he would come up with an intriguing offbeat work.So were the highly superior "le septieme juré", "La route de Salina" (Rita Hayworth's fans should have a look) and "la maison assassinée"."Les seins de glace" (Matheson's "someone is bleeding ") has a good title:it's a wordplay: in French ,"saint" (saint) and seins (breast) are homonyms ."Les saints de glace" is a short period (11th ,12th and 13th of May) when the weather is reportedly cold.And the heroine's breasts are icy cause she cannot stand men anymore.

Unfortunately ,I do not think that this movie is on a par with the three movies I mention above:first of all,Mireille Darc is a limited actress and her acting is not effective in a part which demands intensity,mystery and ambiguousness.Think of Catherine Deneuve in Roman Polanski's "repulsion" and you will know what I mean.But that's not the only flaw.First intriguing and even absorbing in its first half hour ,the movie becomes repetitive and drags on.You will guess the final twist long before the end.

Delon appears only after 20 minutes.He and Darc were in love at the time and that explains why the final scene has a certain strength ,not unlike what the French call "amour fou"

I was shocked to see what a low opinion users of IMDb had of this film. It has the lowest vote score I've come across! But I suppose it depends of your taste in thrillers. This is a P.D.James-type psychological thriller, where despite an overall air of menace it's hard to guess who the villains are - until the end, of course. For example, there are various tough, silent 'gorillas': are they hoodlums and hitmen (Boo! Hiss!), or are they devoted, loyal bodyguards (Hurray!)? Even when it's apparent who's been murdering folk, the puzzle of how everyone else fits into the picture remains. Claude Brasseur plays, with cheeky charm, a TV script-writer, who falls for a mysterious and beautiful blond (Mireille Darc) he finds walking on the winter beach. He is the only character free of suspicion in what follows - which I can't discuss without giving away the story. It reminded me of "After Pilkington", Simon Gray's powerful psycho-thriller, in which Bob Peck found himself similarly tied up with a mysterious (and beautiful) Miranda Richardson. In fact, both films end in the same way (as does "Of Mice and Men"); perhaps it is this ending that is not to the taste of those who gave it only one vote. If so, what would they have made of the end of "Of Mice and Men"? Give it a try, anyway; it kept me involved throughout. Not the greatest thriller, but worth more than the vote here suggests.

It looks like an American film noir from the forties with Mireille Darc instead of Lizabeth Scott or Jane Greer and Claude Brasseur instead of Arthur Kennedy or Dick Powell. It remains French in the making, action, editing, atmosphere but remains effective, and above all dark. Brasseur is rather good in the lead male character. The director George Lautner was a great comedies specialist, but when he tried something different, he succeeded as well: LES SEINS DE GLACE, LE PACHA, LE PROFESSIONEL.... The trademark of a good film maker for me. The biggest surprise here is of course the ending that only a few could predict.

A man named Francois (Claude Brasseur) falls instantly, madly in love with a woman (Mireille Darc) he just met, named Peggy. Francois haunts her until she gives him her address.

As an actual relationship develops, Francois realizes that Peggy may not be the total stranger he fell in love with. Her complicated life could include mental illness, drug addiction, and murder!

For his part, Francois believes none of it, and continues his romantic pursuit. This might be a very bad idea, since there's definitely something going on that possibly involves a conspiracy of some sort.

SOMEONE IS BLEEDING is a French / Italian thriller. It's somewhat slow, and while there is murder and madness, it's sparse. Those accustomed to a faster pace will most likely find this tedious.

Based on a book by Richard Matheson, it's fairly entertaining and odd...

I came on this DVD in the bargain-department of a DVD-shop. For its price of 4 euros, I decided I could not go wrong in purchasing it. The design of its sleeve attracted me, as well as the names of Mireille Darc, Alain Delon and Claude Brasseur. Names that guaranteed a minimum-level of quality in the French cinema during the second half of the last century.

And yes, while watching it turned out that I guessed right. 'Les seins de glace' (= French for 'the breasts of ice') is a very Seventies French thriller. Outdated now, but its charm & tense clearly haven't got lost. And yes again, I also know better thrillers than this one, but that does not qualify 'Les seins de glace' as bad.

Styling and picturing are up to the standards of 1974. The plot of 'Les Seins de Glace' may not be complete but makes sense, and the film is carried on well by Brasseur, Darc and Delon. They make you a pleasant watch.