Al diavolo la morte

I worked on this film as an extra and it was a pleasure to meet the fantastic talent in the film. Isaach was a delight and it was great to meet the late, great Jean-Claude Brialy, who had us often in stitches during the breaks. But the sheer brilliance of watching Ms. Denis at work was unforgettable. I would also like to point out that the cockfights in the film look very real but in filming them it was executed so well that no harm was ever done to any animals. It took many, many hours of shooting and many takes to make it look real - and lots of fake blood. Of course they were put into the ring and they hopped around on each other and began to get aggressive but then it would be stopped. Thus the words "no animals were harmed during the making of this film" is true. It was important to show that this type of thing was going on at the time (many people didn't believe it), and how brutal it was.

The movie starts with a Chester Himes quote--a big clue to its atmosphere. Both gritty and haunting, the story concerns illegal cockfighting in France (minimal carnage), with a lot of overlaid metaphor. "Cock, man, same thing." This is a typically slow, thoughtful Claire Denis film (does any woman take on more masculine subjects?). Everything is played under the surface; in fact, the images and montage are so strong, it might as well be silent. Key motivations are implicit, not explicit. Alex Descas, as the Caribbean cock-trainer, is the soul of the movie, as a man fatally in love with another man's wife.

So, French film industry also had its movie speaking of cockfighting, and not only the Americans with Monte Hellman's COCKFIGHTERS. Here, you have Isaac de Bankole instead of Warren Oates. This French film is really tremendous, gripping, realistic and a bit depressing too. Not the very same pace or even atmosphere as in the Monte Hellman's film. Claire Denis, the female director, gave us a male, men's film, tough, gritty, an excellent surprise from a woman. I saw this film a long time ago and am very pleased to watch it again. I guess this small gem is now totallyy forgotten, such a shame. It would deserve to be released again, at least on DVD or a streaming platform.