Il montone infuriato

As the title of Michel Deville's film translates as the singularly uninviting 'The Rabid Sheep', there have naturally been a few alternatives, the most inappropriate of which must surely be 'Love at the Top'. Whoever thought that one up might perhaps have had in mind the earlier 'Room at the Top' and its sequel but Laurence Harvey's social climber Joe Lampton is a positive milquetoast compared to the Nicholas Mallet of Jean-Louis Trintignant. Monsieur Trintignant utilises his innate shyness and natural charm to great effect here so as to make his character less loathsome.

This film is the first of Deville's loosely connected trilogy that was to continue with the dark and disturbing 'Eaux Profondes' and culminate in his most accomplished, critically acclaimed and commercially successful 'Péril en la Demeure'. Of the three it is the most scathing and cynical and for this viewer at any rate, the weakest.

Trintignant's character is a latter day Bel Ami and the women he beds show precious little resistance, notably the enchanting nymphet of Jane Birkin who becomes remarkably docile after being clipped round the chops by our hero, gorgeous Romy Schneider's bored wife who pays the ultimate price for her infidelity, cougar Florinda Bolkan who paddles with both feet and septuagenerian Mary Marquet!

By far the most fascinating character and one that supplies the film's darkest element is the crippled writer Claude of Jean-Pierre Cassel, a near devilish personality who guides Nicholas on his way to sexual and financial success as well as living a life by proxy as he obviously covets his protegé's conquests. An astute critic has observed that Cassel and Trintignant could so easily have swapped roles.

Deville's preferred editor Raymonde Guyot guarantees a brisk pace whilst the excellent use of the music of Saint-Saens, notably his Third Symphony, reminds us that he is credited with writing the first film score for 'L'Assassinat du Duke de Guise' in 1908.

Is there a moral to the tale? 'Be careful what you wish for....' would seem the most apt.

This is a comedy of morals, so occasionally a gentle touch of bitterness occurs, but a lightness soften all sarcasm and irony flows till all of a sudden one moment will halt your heart and changes everything.

This film, marvelously written and directed, is a gem that shines perfectly, with beautiful acting by all. Jean-Louis Trintignant is exquisite as usual, and Romy Schneider is a pearl, perfect and glowing, that is not to be missed. A truly wonderful film !!

Michel Deville was of the same generation as Truffaut, Chabrol and Godard, but resembles them not at all. He seems to belong to an older generation, like Carne and Renoir, but much more eroticized. The story is that of mentor and student (sort of Svengali and Trilby, but with two men). The homosexual undercurrent of the story should not be too hard to see for most viewers. Trintignant is the shy 'sheep' of the title, his overbearing mentor, who has emotional problems owing to his club foot, is Cassel, one of his most impressive performances.

I don't know who is really the female lead--is it Birkin or Schneider? They both have very important roles. Florinda Bolkan, so great in Investigation of a Citizen..., has another memorable role here. Mary Marquet, almost 80 at the time, has a superb cameo as the very rich woman Trintignant has to romance.

It is just a beautiful film. Not exactly in ordinary manner who you expect - sure the cast is more than impressive, the dialogues are just fair, the satire works more than seductive, the dream , animating many from us , reminding a sort of Vicomte de Valmont and pure intelectual voyerism are admirable good points- but for situations, cliches reinvented in wise manner, for the magnificent end and for references to so many familiar situations from literature and cinema.

An ordinary man, working in a bank, after two meetings with a young girl becomes the subject of a sort of social experiment of his friend.

This is all, in fact, and you become part of each step of the way , with dramatic to terrible consequences of a functionary beginning a different life in profound sense.

In short, just a gem.

LOVE AT THE TOP--the utterly wrongheaded American title for the superb French film "Le Mouton Enrage" (which means, I think, The Rabid Sheep)-- is such an original movie, the fact that it dates back to 1974 seems all the more astounding. This film was far ahead of its time; even by today's highest standards, it accomplishes things that seem rich and new. Filmed by the hugely underrated director Michel Deville, it rather defies description in the way it combines social critique, comedy, mystery, love, sex and satire into one wholly original mix--leaving for the end a major but subtle surprise to render all that has gone before suddenly sad and more understandable. The cast is splendid, ditto the writing and theme. But it's Deville's delicious tone, keeping you constantly off-balance but enrapt, that pushes this "lost" film to a very high level indeed. (The written interview with the director on the "Special Features" section of the DVD is definitely worth reading if you have the time.)