Le voleur de crimes

The late sixties in France : the thrillers were "Le Clan Des Siciliens" "Adieu L'Ami" "Le Passager De LA Pluie".

"Le Voleur De Crimes" is also a thriller ,but it's completely different from EVERYTHING that was made in France at the time.It's not a facile movie,the kind of film which is easy to admire but not easy to like .The fact that it was made by a woman is all the more disturbing since it was a genre female directors had never tackled before ,but correct me if I'm wrong.Nadine Trintignant 's sophomore effort,it's a story of a young man who,after watching a woman commit suicide ,claims responsibility for the "crime" in an anonymous letter he sends to the Police.Even more disturbing :the part of this mythomaniac man is played by the director's husband,Jean-Louis Trintignant ,with his ideal-son-in-law look .Always straight-faced ,a light smile upon his face ,it's not the sinister killer stereotype.As the newspapers begin to write about the "mysterious "assassin,the "wrong man" has come to want to commit a true murder .

Even the scenes from daily life are strange : the café where the two man are counting in front of the bar,the fishmonger,the relationship with the wife and the child.The score is made of canticles sung in Latin (Gloria,Credo,Sanctus) or Greek (Kyrie) ,but they are given a pop or jazzy treatment.The end is filmed in black and white to give it a journalistic style.The whole movie is a long flashback.

Like this?try these.....

"Jeu De Massacre" and "Armaguedon" (both by Alain Jessua)

Jean-Louis Trintignant sees a woman commit suicide. He comes to believe that he murdered her her, and writes letters to the newspapers about how he did it. As the police close in on him, he meets a woman and composes a real crime.

It's a deeply disturbing performance by Trintignant during his peak period. He came to the movies when he was 35, and soon established himself with roles in Bardot films and the rumor he was having an affair with her put him on the front page. Since then, he has appeared in 125 movies, and is still alive at 90 and, I hope when the world opens up again, still working; he was in a movie last year, after all.