Adieu l'ami

It was a time when Charles Bronson was featured in French/European productions;for the record ,one can mention "Le Passager de la Pluie "(1969) by René Clément,"De la Part des Copains " (1970)by Terence Young and the curious "Quelqu'un Derrière la Porte" (1971)where he teamed up with Anthony Perkins .

"Adieu L'Ami" is arguably best of Bronson's adventures in France ,and best of Jean Herman's small filmography .It's his only success in France "Jeff" feat Delon again being looked upon as a failure. In "Adieu L'Ami" ,Bronson replaces ,in a certain manner,Lino Ventura. The plot is suspenseful in the grand tradition of Boileau-Narcejac's frame-ups .It's one of the rare Sebastien Japrisot's scripts which does not fall apart after the second reel.The scenes in the corridor climax the movie.What a night!

A note about the cast:

Olga-Georges Picot ,after several conventional parts,sank into porno films and prematurely died.

Brigitte Fossey,whose performance in Clement's "Jeux Interdits" (1952:she was five then)was praised to the skies around the world,came back to making movies in 1967 ("Le Grand Meaulnes").It was the second effort of her second career.She is still acting .

Although Bernard Fresson (who recently died)had begun his career with Resnais ("Hiroshima Mon Amour" ,1959) it took him ten years to draw the French audience's attention : his part of a cop was hailed by the critics.

This will probably be my shortest comment ever; but I havent seen this film in years. However I have always liked it as a great vehicle for both Bronson and Delon. Its finely rcrafted, smooth and slick and still has a raw edge to it. When you think about intelligent action films this one is hard to forget.

An engaging psychological thriller, it's got some fights, girls, guns, muscles and chase scenes, but that's not the point. Ultimately, this film is about friendship and honor. It's a guys' flick, although girls too will be rewarded with Alain Delon's divine mug in plenty a closeup. It is probably Charles Bronson's finest performance ever, and one of Delon's best films. Made entirely in English, this is a good chance for an American viewer to appreciate French thrillers. While trying to imitate Hollywood first, they ended up being much better than the original. This movie will probably not change you as a person, but it will resonate with you.

Adieu L'ami/Farewell,Friend is a near perfect film in which a viewer is assured that there is all possibility of entertainment guaranteed.This is because apart from strong men in the form of maverick actors namely Alain Delon and Charles Bronson,there are also good performances by beautiful women such as Brigitte Fossey and Olga Georges Picot.It is true that "Adieu L'ami" respects all the conventions of heist film genre but it cannot be classified as an ordinary heist film as it is only until the end that the viewers have to guess about the actual perpetrators of a financial crime.This effect has been created by treating everybody as a suspect.As a different type of heist film, the theme of men being overshadowed by women develops slowly.This gives viewers ample time to develop their loyalties.Before directing this film, Jean Herman had already made around 15 short films.As far as screenwriter is concerned, this is Sébastien Japrisot's second film.He is best remembered for having written "L'été Meurtrier" for Jean Becker (Jacques Becker's son) which starred Isabelle Adjani and Alain Souchon.

Bronson shines in this great film. This is clearly one his his best pics yet. The movie is great. The story, the acting... Everything. The chemstry between Bronson and co-star Alain Delon works well.

One quesion though... why is Bronson billed so low? Look at how the cast is listed on imdb page... Bronson WAS the star of this, along side Alain Delon.

I've heard that new DVD versions of this film are terrible in quality. I have an OLD vhs of this that is pretty good. The quality isn't great, but it is surely watchable. I guess I'm lucky.

Anyway- go see this movie now!