The French title is "Le Pouvoir Du Mal" (= power of evil)
PLot: after stopping Sylvie from committing suicide ,Hubert,a theology student ,,becomes her lover ;pregnant by him,she finally comes to term with it ;but the lack of money urges the young man to ask Gottfried ,a wealthy arms manufacturer;he's actually his lover's husband and he has a heart condition ...
One of "paradigm" meanings applies to the movie:"A set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality for the community that shares them, especially in an intellectual discipline."
Although the love triangle and the husband's heart condition are often found in the thriller genre,we deal here with philosophical drama:Hubert studies theology ,abortion is an abomination to his eyes ,and ,like Rousseau,he thinks that man is naturally good and it's the society which corrupts him ;in direct contrast with that,we have Gottfried who works for destruction and (legal?) murder :he once helped Hubert to pay his studies,but this time his pleas fall on dead ears .To this aging potentate,evil is present in every human being ,and he has free will .In the face of such cynicism,the young guy feels helpless .Expiation is the only way to solve his dilemma,but this ending has something pointless,even Bunuelesque.
Set in the twenties with seasoned actors(Gassmann,Barrault and even Vallone in a small part) ,this Franco-Italian production is downright depressing :can evil lead you to liberty?
