Les aventuriers

I saw this movie in Viet Nam in the open air. It impressed me because of the beautiful scenery, photography and story line. I followed this picture from compound to compound and saw it several times . It was an island, a bit of paradise in an otherwise brutal setting. I will never forget this movie even though I have not seen it in over 30 years.

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.

...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.

It is a huge basket with fruits. Dreams and games of childhood, reflected by treasure and fortress, splendid chemistry between Lino Ventura and Alain Delon, few drops of romance and great portrait of friendship, humor and extravagance, fights and deaths, a boy, guide of a local museum, a dromader with a noble name associated, bad guys.

Short, a large window opened in early morning.

I just saw this film in Paris, on TV, in French. Although my French is bad and I didn't understand the dialogue, I loved it. It was easy to understand the relationships between the characters and their love of life, until something happened to change it. It cheered me up when I was very tired. I would love to see it with subtitles - will British TV show it? Alain Delon was irresistible and his co-stars equally good. I am no lover of 1960s movies, but I admit that I haven't explored enough French movies from this period. This experience has encouraged me to see more, if I get the chance. It lacked the "naff" dated quality that some 60s films have - pure class all the way.