Défense de savoir

Nadine Trintignant's second feature film as director "Défense de savoir" ("Defense of Knowledge") is an intriguing and puzzling piece where nothing seems what appears and no one is safe from harm. It feels like a less complicated version of Costa Gavras "Z" and even cast members Jean-Louis Trintignant and Charles Denner are present too. It's also a less combative and explosive film as it's simply a fictional story rather than a based on a real event kind of film. Enjoyable but far from memorable, except for the few interesting twists that Nadine and her co-writer Alain Corbeau offer to audiences.

A young woman (Bernadette Lafont) is accused of murdering a man, whom we later discover he's a criminal involved in a robbery gone wrong. Her appointed lawyer (Jean-Louis) tries to prove her innocence and goes after the real culprits, the usual routine of dedicated lawyers.

What he uncovers is a thick plot revolving crooked politicians and their lousy political campaigns that revolves on shaming and attacking oppositors on the streets. The politician in question is the wealthy Paul Cristiani (Michel Bouquet), who has a complicated relationshhip with daughter (Juliet Berto), an underground stage actress, and both parts still mourn the accidental death of son/brother in mysterious circumstances.

I won't go much further with the description, in fact I simplified it a lot as the countledss flashbacks can throw you off guard and you won't get neither the typical fare from wrongfully accused plot, neither a brainy film destine to shake your world in distruting official versions of a crime. While the cast acting is so-and-so (only the Trintignants are honorable, with Marie playing a hostage from the bad guy and she develops a unusual bond with the lawyer; and Brazilian actress Norman Bengell has a good key role), the film creates so many bizarre antics with some characters that nothing is believable neither cinematically interesting - the female characters yell, shout and behave in such weird manner, not responding when needed, or challenging the lawyer - the "innocent" girl isn't helpful in any way and it's so annoying that any thinking person in the audience if being in the lawyer's shoes would reject the case and leave her in jail.

In "Défense de savoir" there are more qualities than problems, it's a quite manageable thrilling work that isn't a total mess. The enthusiasts for complex stories will find some thrills and will be challenged by it - but not that much. Somehow it works just fine. 6/10.

More a thriller than a really political movie, it's a family business: Nadine Trintignant directs her then-husband Jean-Louis and even their own daughter ,the ill-fated Marie ; politics remain vague though Michel Bouquet ( who seems to have been borrowed from Chabrol's "la femme infidèle" ot "la rupture" ) and his accomplice Claude Piéplu ( fresh from Chabrol's "les noces rouges") may represent the (far) right wing .

The screenplay,which uses too many flashbacks , is somewhat desultory and it takes all Michel Bouquet's talent to accept such a badly written character. The main originality is the real identity of Charles Denner's murderer ; as a red herring ,Bernadette Laffont 's guilt does not convince a single minute .Juliet Berto represents the post-68 daughter ,at odds with bourgeois daddy the average viewer has seen a hundred times or more .

After her sophomore effort ("Le Voleur De Crimes" )which was extremely demanding and thus might have been off-putting for the mainstream audience ,Nadine Trintignant came back to a much more conventional,accessible style :her third movie feat Deneuve and Mastroiani was a blockbuster ("Ca N'arrive Qu'Aux Autres" but some may find it a bit facile -telling the death of a child can easily move the audience);and then "Defense De Savoir".

It is as much trendy ,as much part of the seventies French zeitgeist as "Voleur De Crimes" is an anomaly in the routine of the French thriller.In the wake of May 68 (and of the success of"Z"),political movies began to emerge ,becoming one of the dominant genres of the decade :André Cayatte,who,let's be fair ,had begun long before the craze ,Yves Boisset,even Marcel Carné ("Les Assassins De L'Ordre")or Pierre Granier-Deferre ("Adieu Poulet");Generally right-wing politicians were the villains :such is the case in the movie I'm writing about .Jean-Louis Trintignant ,who was the "hero" of "Voleur De Crimes" teams up again with his wife/director .

The director's (and lead actor's) daughter,Marie Trintignant ,who met with a tragic end, appears as the little girl.

This is a convoluted but interesting murder mystery with political overtones; the revelations (verging on an ironic banality) are presented intermittently via confessions made by a variety of characters which come as a series of flashbacks. It's aided a great deal by a splendid cast (featuring several veterans of the French New Wave): Jean-Louis Trintignant, Michel Bouquet, Charles Denner, Juliet Berto, Bernadette Lafont, Marie Trintignant and Claude Pieplu; the best performances, in my estimation, are those given by Berto and Denner, though the scenes involving the two Trintignants have an obvious intimacy about them as to make them quite special (this film was a real family affair, as it was directed by the wife of one and the mother of the other!). Composer Bruno Nicolai also adds a valuable contribution to the fray with his good score.