L'attentat

Yes, I recognize here the true authentic Yves Boisset's trademark, this so brave, bold French director who did not hesitate to make films against power, institution, the French government, against the princes of darkness, the lords of shadows who ruled the country. This one is the first of a long list including R. A. S - Algerian war -, JUGE FAYARD - underworld members "friendship" with politicians -, DUPONT LAJOIE - French genuine racism...This one speaks about the Ben Barka's case, a politician from Morocco who was abducted and supposed killed by the French police helped by French underworld to please the US government, CIA. Trintignant plays a perfect anti hero, a lost in advance soul. You also have here many sub characters with the likes of Michel Piccoli, Michel Bouquet, Bruno Cremer, Philippe Noirt...A dark and gloomy tale but so perfect, so daring, exciting.... Among the best of Yves Boisset. And we also have Roy Scheider is a surprising supporting role, as he will have in UN HOMME EST MORT, made the following year, also with Jean Louis Trintignant.

Basically the script was good material but not challenged enough by a young Yves Boisset, who could actually feel overwhelmed/content with the dream team he had to work with.

First the hero is too much of a negative schmuck. It would have changed absolutely nothing in the plot to rewrite this character as a little more of a good guy with dark undertones. It is fine to have the big shots disparage him as an inconsistent loser but, movie-wise, it is better to have a slightly too idealistic a character than a downright bitter failed writer.

Then the other characters are quite good, but they lack one good scene, one devastating line to nail the storyline. As such L'Attentat feels more like the pedestrian telling of a politically-charged story where they have cameos. Too bad to have such a cast, comprising J-L Trintignant, M. Piccoli, Ph. Noiret, Gian Maria Volonte, J. Bouise, B. Cremer, Jean Seberg and Roy Sheider, only to have them gently speaking their lines, without their inner genius ever surfacing from it all.

In the end, this early 70s conspiracy flick fails where most movies in the genre will succeed: here lie too many visible parts of the conspiracy, the chain of command is too obvious, and thus it lacks the sense of fatality of one fine guy pitted against obscure and unassailable forces.

The precedent user found it hard to catch up with a muddled screenplay;it is sure easy to see why: first he saw a digest version (93 min) whereas the French version has a running time of two hours. And the subject deals with an affair which was widely talked about in the French sixties,but which is virtually unknown abroad:Sadiel (Volonte) was inspired by real-life character Ben Barka who was murdered in mysterious circumstances .I was still a child when it happened but I can remember my mother talk about it indignantly.

Yves Boisset is ,par excellence,the French political director.But he was still immature at the time;all the qualities he would display in later works ("RAS" "Dupont-Lajoie" "Allons Enfants" "Espions Lève-Toi" and our French "Paths of gloryesque" "Le Pantalon Rouge" ) are absent here: the tightness,the directness and above all the accessibility.His screenplay looks like a hotchpotch made of all the trendy subjects which were not even those of the Ben Barka era: May 68 and the CRS (the riot police),the guys singing Hare Krishna and more,as the precedent user pointed out.

An international cast does not help ;two American stars were hired:Jean Seberg who was fluent in French and sadly who was to die several years later in mysterious circumstances and Roy Scheider who manages quite well with the French language too.Plus all the who's who of the French actors :Jean -Louis Trintignant,Michel Bouquet,Michel Piccoli,and the politically committed Italian Gian Maria Volonte.But it makes the matters worse: it looks like a stream of stars who do not seem to believe in the parts they are playing.

Put aside some of the tiny details, I find the movie excellent. It is very hard to view it and considering the average viewer's grade, it is interesting to see how this movie did not stay in circulation. They did make a lot of movies available on VHS and later on DVD that are really not as good as this one and it makes you wonder if there was not a certain influence behind it (ie political influence to not keep this movie in circulation, which would make this movie closer to reality...). How much of the movie is based on the true story, I don't know, but it seems like all of it could be. The atmosphere of the movie is suspenseful. The nature of the scenario is such that you don't know who can be trusted, so you can imagine the problem of having a secret that people want to get rid off... The events appear to be more realistic than modern movies. Nothing fancy, just some cold war like situation with people that could be anybody and nobody (you or your neighbor or the guy you work with). The movie starts like something is already about to explode. Ennio Morricone's music was such that when the movie started on TV some decades ago, I was not planning on watching it, but I simply sat down and had to see the rest of it because nothing else seemed to matter and I never regretted it. Some people don't seem to like the acting, but remember that this is the 70s and this is how people were behaving and talking then. No Brad Pits or above reality acting. No theater drama or over-acting. This acting is almost documentary like based on the French culture at the time, which once again makes it seem closer to reality. Everyone know from history that those situations existed. Governments moving their ponds, killing whom ever got in the way, sometimes playing with each other and sometimes against each other. Just think about the banana republics, the role of some countries to control former colonies or destabilize colonies... and of course, with the tensions within the countries for some parties to support bad actions "for national interest" (even if it is for personnel political gain) and those that are against it. Sometimes, it was not clear whether actions were taken to fight communist or to favor financial gains for the country and in the end, it all boils down to "how can you trust" and how long before you trust the wrong person? There is the world of simple workers and the underworld of politics, crime, corruption, power struggles... and I think this movie gives you a good snapshot of it and maybe that's why it's now almost impossible to find in spite of the average rating...

In films of this genre it is Costa-Gavras who is rightly considered the master. However, Yves Boisset is certainly no slouch and has never shied away from pointing a finger at institutional corruption, hence the 'official' obstacles he has been obliged to face.

The 'disappearance' of Third World activist Mehdi Ben Barka in 1965 caused such a 'scandale public' that de Gaulle's government was forced to deny any involvement. Barka's son was convinced that vital documents were withheld 'for reasons of national security' that linked his father's kidnapping, torture and murder to the CIA and Mossad(possibly) French security forces(probably) and King Hassan 11 of Morocco(definitely) What is certain is that this appalling crime represented yet another example of Western Intelligence Services propping up monstrous dictatorships.

This material is dynamite of course and Boisset's film, despite its occasional weaknesses in construction, is thoroughly absorbing and succeeds in justifying its two hour length.

For this film to work one has to sympathise with the Barka character, here named Sadiel and played by the excellent Gian-Maria Volonté, certainly no stranger himself to political activism. Volonté invests Sadiel with intelligence, sensitivity and a total committment to his cause without being fanatical. Another sympathetic character is the Francois of Jean-Louis Trintignant who becomes in his own words 'the unwitting instrument' of Barka's gruesome fate. This actor can do no wrong in my book and impresses as a misguided intellectual. He had also excelled of course in 'Z' for Costa-Gavras.

The film is aided immeasurably by a line-up of consummate professionals relishing their sleazy characters, notably Michel Bouquet, Philippe Noiret and a chilling Michel Piccoli. The good guys are played by Bruno Cremer and Francois Périer whilst Roy Scheider's journalist only appears to be a goodie....... Jean Seberg has a crummy role as a well-intentioned leftie and it is cruelly ironic that this lovely actress was to pay the ultimate price for her outspoken views.

The script is aimed at a literate audience, Boisset's direction is taut, the cinematography by Ricardo Aronovich is wonderfully muted and Ennio Morricone's score is marvellously menacing. The only prize the film picked up was awarded by the Russians. Quelle surprise!

Whilst watching this piece I was again reminded of Jean Renoir's frightening observation: "Everyone has his reasons"!