Bunuel1976 Review of Défense de savoir

Défense de savoir (1973)

FORBIDDEN TO KNOW (Nadine Marquand Trintignant, 1973) **1/2

[6/10 · 8 September 2006]

This is a convoluted but interesting murder mystery with political overtones; the revelations (verging on an ironic banality) are presented intermittently via confessions made by a variety of characters which come as a series of flashbacks. It's aided a great deal by a splendid cast (featuring several veterans of the French New Wave): Jean-Louis Trintignant, Michel Bouquet, Charles Denner, Juliet Berto, Bernadette Lafont, Marie Trintignant and Claude Pieplu; the best performances, in my estimation, are those given by Berto and Denner, though the scenes involving the two Trintignants have an obvious intimacy about them as to make them quite special (this film was a real family affair, as it was directed by the wife of one and the mother of the other!). Composer Bruno Nicolai also adds a valuable contribution to the fray with his good score.