User reviews

"Les Violents " should have been Calef's best movie.Unfortunately it is not.The opening is brilliant : a murky dark atmosphere where a strange silhouette moves ,sometimes you can only see threatening eyes in the dark.A great moment:the captain to a frightened Ledoux: "what does he look like?" "he looks like you" .

The problem is the number of characters :there are so many persons on the screen that it's very hard to catch up with the plot.Calef had qualities,but creating a supporting character was not his forte (in "la Passante " it's also obvious).The ending is meant to be surprising and it is ,but it's so implausible you can't say it packs a wallop .

Best performance comes from Fernand Ledoux ,as a jaded bitter man ,whose life has been ruined by his cousin.For the rest,it's a faceless cast,even the talented Paul Meurisse.