Les Aventuriers

This movie is indeed one of the best I have ever seen. It's magic doesn't let you loose until the last picture fades away and still you think "OH - NO!" please don't let that be the end ... Lino Ventura and Alain Delon are the perfect match for this cast! From the sixties though, but as one says, "they don't make such movies any more". Although the movie tells one of those "boy meets girl", "another boy joins them" stories, this one is different. Everything circles around her and it's getting faster and faster. They're goofing around and having lots of fun, the best time of their lives. But when they lose her, their precious toy is gone, which drags them down. That the story has a very sad ending, where our 'hero' loses everything, is obvious, must be obvious from the beginning, still it is very hard to admit - at the end. This movie is a must-see.

A splash of something fulfilling, moving, romantic, heartbreaking. Robert Enrico is one of the unsung masters of film. His movies are not destined for a Godardian audience but not even the purist film scholar can be indifferent to this. Alain Delon is at his most natural and human. That on its own it's just gorgeous. Lino Ventura is sublime as the older friend who needs the other but at the same time gives him all the freedom in the world because, as it happens with true friends, he want what's best for the other. The entrance of Joanna Shimkus into their lives is totally intoxicating. She doesn't enter to interfere in Delon and Ventura's friendship but to reinforce it. How beautiful! She's perfect. This film deserves a new life. I know it's difficult to find but it's well worth the effort.

Wholly enjoyable. Really liked the relationship between the characters, it was shot well and incredibly picturesque; the music is wonderful too. But, it suffers from "corny" dialogue and some rough pacing. But it is decent enough :)

This interesting as well as intimate story is a passionate retelling and a touching drama about three friends , two men an a woman ; all of them develop a wonderful friendship . This top-drawer motion picture mingles tenderness , drama , warm humor , emotion and sensibility . It deals with two adventurers and best friends, Roland (Lino Ventura , fetish actor of filmmaker Robert Enrico) , a Grand Prix driver, and Manu (Alain Delon) , a daredevil pilot . Manu is victim of a joke that costs him his pilot's license . The agreeable duo meets Alicia (Joanna Shimkus who subsequently married Sidney Poitier) , a sensitive sculptor who dreams of buying an old fort in Charente-Maritime . With seeming contrition , the jokers tell Roland and Manu about a crashed aircraft lying on the ocean floor off the coast of Congo stuffed with jewels and other riches . The Congo journey results to be a treason , they are double-crossed by the pilot (Serge Reggniani) of the crashed plane and the adventurers must pick up the pieces . Later on , they carry out a voyage to Boyardville , Île d'Oléron, Charente-Maritime, and its island : ¨Fort Boyard¨, (France) , where takes place several adventures and risks . There they are pitted against a pack of human sharks (Guy Delorme , Hand Meyer among others) in a tragic ending .

This exciting film contains romantic elements , brooding drama , intrigue , tragic events and thrills especially on its final part . It packs lingering images in which are narrated the lovely relationship between the amiable Alain Delon and Lino Ventura along with the gorgeous Joanna Simkus , as the three adventurers set off to find a sunk loot . This timeless movie displays haunting and powerful scenes , it's plenty of frames which stay forever in the mind . Romantic thriller that deals with a particular buddy movie between Lino Ventura and Alain Delon , a special relationship among two different characters along with the enticing Joanna Shimkus , turning into a beloved friendship and a marvelous love story . Top notch performance from protagonist trio , Lino Ventura as the tough as well as sensible driver , Alain Delon as a valiant pilot and special mention to Joanna Shimkus as Laetitia , an artistic young woman who treats them like brothers . Lively musical score by Francois Roubaix is enjoyable and cheerful , full of piano sounds and whistles , including catching leitmotif . Colorful and shimmer cinematography filmed on location in Boyardville, Île d'Oléron, Charente-Maritime, and Fort Boyard, Charente France .

The motion picture was stunningly written and directed by Robert Enrico , being based on an excellent novel by Jose Giovanni , a notorious writer and filmmaker . Enrico started directing short movies , as his shorts gave him critical acclaim very early in his career. Having become the maker of popular movies after an arty debut, he was awarded the best movie "César" for "Le vieux Fusil" or ¨Old gun¨ before becoming the long-time president of "L'Académie des Césars". He was a good professional who directed interesting films as ¨Jailsbird vacation¨ , ¨Le secret¨ ,¨Rum Runners¨, ¨The wise guys¨ , ¨An occurrence at Owl Creek¨ and his masterpiece ¨The adventurers¨ . Rating : 7,5 , better than average. Worthwhile watching . The film will appeal to French cinema lovers .

...the first one being the unsurpassed "Au Coeur De La Vie"

Released when the nouvelle vague was à la mode and when critics did not care for the others (=who were not part of the Godard clique),"les adventurers " has stood the test of time remarkably well,so well that (God preserve us) some producers could think of a remake.

Robert Enrico had already directed "les grandes gueules" (1963) which enhanced male friendships in a Vosges Mountains sawmill and is still watchable today thanks to its good cast(Bourvil,Lino Ventura,Marie Dubois),and Enrico's effective directing.But nothing could have predicted "les adventurers" ,which seems today stronger than yesterday,when so many nouvelle vague "oeuvres " are reserved for highbrows and make too many people take to their heels when they hear about French cinema.

"Les adventurers" was based on the first part of a Jose Giovanni novel(who had written Becker's "le trou";Giovanni himself transferred the second part to the screen as "la loi du survivant").When it was released ,it was a huge popular success,but the critics were a bit condescending.

The Delon/Ventura/Shimkus threesome shines .They are true raiders ,in a way Indiana Jones is not:they have something to lose ,and they are human beings of flesh and blood.Enrico used the film sets with stunning results.He makes the scrap heap where Leatitia looks for waste material as poetic as the fort surrounded by the sea where the tragedy is resolved.François de Roubaix's extraordinary score enhances the scenes as few musicians can do.

The burial at sea is the most beautiful sequence of the sixties French cinema.I cannot think of a more haunting scene :anybody who has seen it never forgets it.Robert Enrico,who is not regarded as an "important" director in France has nothing to be jealous of his peers here.

A work to rival the best of Huston.