Deux hommes en fuite

I saw this movie for the first and last time on Dutch television in the late 70's / early 80's. I was 9 or 10 years old at that time. I remember it gave me the creeps. Especially the helicopter... that could show up at any time. This film has been in my head for a long time (not remembering the title) Since I know the title (recently) i can't wait to see the movie again but unfortunately this films isn''t available on tape or DVD. I wonder what happened to it and i would like to ask anyone involved in making this film to blow the dust from the original print and release it very soon. Then I can judge the film again and maybe come to the conclusion that it is a terrible movie after all ;-)

Rob (The Netherlands)

The viewer is presented with two characters. These characters are on the run, from a black helicopter that keeps chasing after them. The viewer is not told what there crime is, or if they have committed any crime. They both must fight their way through a rocky, rough, dry desert region. All the viewer gets is little stories from each of these men. We find out about children, a wife, former girlfriends, etc. The men struggle to reach a safe place, almost driving themselves crazy, believing that this is possible. This film is not available on video or disc, and the TV print runs shorter than 110 minutes. There may be a large important part of this film missing. Maybe one day it will be released on tape and disc so that a wider audience can see it. This film really is a good piece of film making.

This movie takes what was a difficult novel to start with (by Barry England) and turns it into a rather odd tale of two men on the run. Robert Shaw wrote the screenplay and stars in this, and as usual is excellent as the tough and slightly unhinged Mac, with Malcolm McDowell in slightly overshadowed support as Ansell. You never really find out why they are running or who from (their pursuers are constantly referred to just as 'them'); but at times the action turns bloody and violent, at other times it is more reflective and quiet.

Joseph Losey's direction gives us the sense of two people lost in an expanse of nothing, which makes the scenes with the helicopter chasing them across country even more powerful. It is just hard to care about these two, without any back story to speak of or any sense of just what or who they are. An ok film and worth watching, but slightly frustrating.

Rugged maniacal brute MacConnachie (a fabulously ferocious and galvanizing performance by Robert Shaw) and wimpy intellectual Ansell (a sound portrayal by Malcom McDowell) are a couple of escaped fugitives who are on the run in some unspecified foreign country. The pair find themselves being relentlessly pursued by an ominous black helicopter.

Director Joseph Losey makes excellent and inspired use of the harsh, sprawling, and desolate countryside. Shaw's stark and intriguing script eschews pretense and exposition in favor of stripping down the premise to its mean'n'lean existential essentials whereby the plot basically becomes a gritty meditation on survival and the ruthless extremes people will resort to in order to stay alive in a hostile and pitiless world. Shaw and McDowell play off each other exceptionally well as a couple of radically contrasting fellows who are forced to depend on each other so they can persevere through a grueling ordeal that's beyond their control or understanding. Several scenes involving close calls with the helicopter register as quite dangerous and hence are positively harrowing to watch. The striking widescreen cinematography by Guy Tabary, Henri Alekan, and Peter Suschitzky offers a wealth of breathtaking aerial shots. Recommended viewing.

Figures in a Landscape is the most peculiar film I've ever seen. I've seen a lot of peculiar films (The Keep, The Island, A Zed and Two Noughts, Eye of the Devil, etc.) but this one beats them all in terms of its curious nature.

It has almost no plot. What little plot there is details the efforts of two escaped convicts to evade a menacing black helicopter as they flee through the rugged landscape of some un-named South American country. Did they really commit a crime at all? Why does the chopper pilot want to catch them? Who are they? All these questions, so obvious and central to all the other films of this type, are left unasked and unanswered. This is purely a chase for the sake of a chase movie. Everything is left unexplained, and the immediate action is the only thing that is concentrated upon.

Given the existentialist angle that the film adopts, it is little surprise that it is unpopular.Many people feel cheated by the lack of explanation. I have a soft spot for the film, because it lets me decide for myself what is going on and what has gone before. I feel that Robert Shaw's performance is commanding, and the aerial photography is outstanding. However, I'm not saying that this is some kind of overlooked classic; nor even that it is an excellent film. It's just a wrongly panned film that has enough interesting features within its running time to make it commendable to anyone who has yet to see it.