Mort d'un pourri

"Death of a Corrupt Man" begins with, well, the death - or more accurately the murder - of a corrupt man. Only this corrupt man was keeping a detailed journal of his illegal activities and transactions, implicating a lot of the top politicians of Paris. The killer steals the journal and comes to the house of his best friend and president of a company (Alain Delon), in the middle of the night, asking for help. Delon agrees to provide him with an alibi, but there are plenty of people who will be ruined if the journal falls into the wrong hands, and they will stop at NOTHING to get it back. "Death of a Corrupt Man" is essentially the French answer to the popular American pessimistic political thrillers of its era ("Three Days of the Condor, "The Parallax View", etc.), with one man fighting against the entire corrupt system. It's a bit too long (120 minutes) and uneven: tense and involving at times (with some good car stunts by expert Remy Julienne) , talky and dull at other times. Alain Delon and Ornella Muti make a highly attractive leading couple, and give nicely understated performances as well. (**1/2)

When Xavier 'Xav' Maréchal (Alain Delon) is awaken by his old friend Deputy Philippe Dubaye (Maurice Ronet), he learns that Philippe has killed the also politician Serrano (Charles Moulin) that has a dossier with documents proving the corruption of several politicians and businessmen including Philippe and was blackmailing him. Xavier accepts to provide an alibi to his friend and to follow the investigation to help Phillippe, who has stolen the dossier. But soon Xavier finds that a network of powerful men wants to retrieve the documents and he has to run to survive.

"Mort d'un pourri", a.k.a. "Death of a Corrupt Man", is a thriller based on politics and the related corruption of the Powers That Be. The plot is full of action with a hopeless conclusion. The beauty of Ornella Muti is impressive. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Morte de um Corrupto" ("The Death of a Corrupt Man")

A political thriller around a notebook. Murders, secret society, cops , a sort of hero looking for the name of the killer of his friend, crumbs of a romance and a beautiful cast. Corruption and image of justice. Beautiful confrontation between Klaus Kinki and Alain Delon and a young Ornela Mutti. Alain Delon as indestructible Xav , reminding , in some measure, Charles Bronson characters and the bitter end. Maybe, a film for nostalgics because the truths defined by story, present today, in same measure, has another taste. But, sure, delightful.

"Death of a Corrupt Man" from 1977 is a French film produced by Alain Delon's company, starring Delon, Ornella Muti, Stephanie Audran, Maurice Ronet, Klaus Kinski, and Delon's companion at that time, Mirelle Darc.

A deputy, Philippe Dubaye (Ronet) gets his old friend Xavier Maréchal (Delon) up in the dead of night. He says he has just killed racketeer, Serrano, who had many political connections. Serrano had proof of Dubaye's involvement in corruption in high places and was ready to use them against him.

Xav agrees to give his friend an alibi, which is not believed by the police. Everyone wants those documents and figure that Xav must have them. There are multiple car chases and attempts on his life and that of Dubaye's girlfriend (Muti).

Good film that is somewhat timely today, with all its talk of politicians stealing, people in government just in it for the money, blackmail, etc. Delon, who in this dubbing sounds like Robert Conrad, is strong in his role, as are Kinski and Audran.

Ornella Muti is positively gorgeous. Mirelle Darc was only in the film because of Delon; her part could have been cut and as it was, she only had a few lines. And how about this - an Alain Delon film with no love scene. Dubbed on top of it, which I hate.

Delon favored this type of role, as evidenced by the films he produced. I saw him later in a documentary done 37 years later. Everyone recognized him, at 81, and wanted a photo with him. He was very obliging.

"The Death of a Corrupt Man" is an outstanding French thriller with elements of the political and psych thriller, gangster movies and the typical conspiracy films of the seventies. Casted with some of the best European actors of that time - Alain Delon, Ornela Muti, Stephane Audran, Mireille Darc and madman Klaus Kinski - it tells the story of a big conspiracy with a corrupt politician getting rid of all his opponents. Now it's lawyer Alain Delon's turn to fight the power. Of course he's becoming the target of some killers soon, a wild hunt begins where several people lose their lives until Delon finds the real villain. The pacing is fast, the plot twisted and thrilling, and the really good actors and clever direction add much impact to this powerful thriller with some furious action scenes including a great truck chase. If you get a video or DVD copy of that film or find it in your TV guide, watch it!