Laurent Heyneman already gave us the terrific LA QUESTION, several years earlier, another daring piece of work. And the French movie industry also gave us in the seventies, and also early eighties, Andre Cayatte's LA RAISON D'ETAT, and other films such Michel Deville's LE DOSSIER 51, and René Gainville's LE COMPLOT. Of course I won't speak of Yves Boisset's movies, nearly all of them in the line and spirit, atmosphere of this very one. I would have imagined Marthe Keller in the Birgit Hass character, I don't why.... And Jean Rochefort is here in a such a poignant role, for this poor man's character, like a sheep or a cow destined to the slaughterhouse. It is gloomy, nasty on the meaning, but unfortunately so realistic; it shows the true but hidden face of the behind the scene manipulations from the political powers and governments who stop at anything to crush, destroy in the most ruthless way those whom they use or who are their adversaries. I loved the Jean Rochefort - Lisa Kreuzer relationship. Two persons with a fate lost in advance. No super hero here. Bernard Lecoq in an awesome but disgusting performance. But I prefered the novel from which this film is inspired, the book is far more gloomy; the ending here is a bit lousy, to please and not disturb the "sensitive" audiences.
