1 homme de trop

A group of French resistance fighters in France in 1943 battle the Nazis, and after rescuing 13 men from execution have to decide what to do when it turns out that one of the 13 may be a traitor to the resistance. Director Costa-Gavras' 1967 World War 2 action drama is at times fast paced, and has a good cast including Michel Piccoli, Charles Vanel and Bruno Cremer, as well as a slight vein of humour. Unfortunately despite little moments of skill these are somewhat drowned out by the rest of the contents of this rather boring and not particularly good film, with it's rambling narrative reading like a poor 'Boy's Own' war adventure, with characters rushing around frantically, and with noisy, confused action scenes consisting of lots of machine gun fire and explosions. Not exactly 'The Dirty Dozen', in fact this is a classic example of how not to make a war (or anti-war) film.

In spite of a solid cast of well-known French actors, Shock Troops fails to deliver as a war film. The opening minutes look promising, with a tense escape and the suggestion of a daring mission, but the excitement quickly fades. The story drags, the action lacks any real thrill, and the supposed adventure becomes dull and predictable. Instead of suspense and intensity, the film offers confusion and monotony, leaving the audience with little more than disappointment.

Following his dazzling directorial debut with 'Compartiment Tuers' Costa-Gavras was approached by producer Harry Saltzman. The director professed a wish to film 'The Human Condition' by André Malraux but unsurprisingly Saltzman showed reluctance so instead they settled on a film about the French Resistance based upon the novel by Jean-Pierre Chabrol who had served in the communist-led FTP Maquis.

The plot concerns a group of Resistance fighters who have succeeded in their mission to help twelve men condemned to death by the Germans to escape from prison. Much to their surprise however there is a thirteenth! Is he a spy, a collaborator or a plant? As the pursuing Germans close in it is decided that he must be eliminated.........

The film boasts an impressive cast list including Jean-Claude Brialy and Gérard Blain who had first appeared together in Claude Chabrol's 'Le beau Serge' whilst veteran Charles Vanel again effortlessly steals most of his scenes. Bruno Cremer and Jacques Perrin both play roles not entirely dissimilar to those they had played in the excellent '317th Platoon' but the contrast between that film and this could not be greater. This is more gung-ho and derring-do with a bit of comedy relief thrown in. By far the most interesting part is the 'extra man' of the superlative Michel Piccoli whose character has been written not as a villain but in the director's words as 'a lost one who has chosen not to engage or take sides.' This element obviously undermines the myth of unified French resistance and no doubt contributed to the film's commercial failure.

The film itself never stops to draw breath, contains plenty of rapidly delivered dialogue and the thrilling action sequences had to be shot quickly by Jean Tournier as they only had one camera whilst Christian Gaudin's editing is particularly impressive.

Costa-Gavras' meticulous approach is never more apparent than in the concluding scenes on the Alés Bridge. The final shot, once seen, is unlikely to be forgotten.

Costa-Gavras' final journeyman piece - and his first film in colour - is a creditable addition to the wartime resistance genre with an impressive lineup of Gallic acting talent.

But what really sets it apart is two remarkable helicopter shots, the second of which - that ends the film - represents a tour-de-force that would be as famous among students of film as that that ended 'Von Ryan's Express' were the film only better known.

I, too, had a chance to watch this film for only once, and could never forget it, been even searching for a VHS copy but with no luck, agree with the other 2 reviewers' take on this matter, too many bad movies being released on DVD and Blu-Ray, but nobody want to pay attention on this one. Criterion Collection will release 2 great movies made by Costa-Gavras in May 2015, The Confession and State Of Siege , unfortunately "Un Homme De Trop" is not included, I really hope this film is not lost!! I had sent a request to Criterion Collection to make this film available, hope they will acknowledge it. If it's still being shown on TV, meaning at least there is 4x3 aspect ratio version of it, but no..I'd like to see it with original 2.35:1 ratio on Blu-Ray, please!!

"Un Homme De Trop" was shown in 2013 Champs-Elysees Film Festival stated as: "La projection du film très rare Un homme de trop de Costa-Gavras"

The projection of the very rare film of Costa-Gavras

!!! JUST IN It's coming out as part of Costa-Gavras Film Collection Vol.1 in Nov.