Nous sommes tous des assassins (1952)

Rene is not a bright guy. He was taught to kill by the Resistance. But the WW2 is over and he keeps on killing. He is condemned to death. In jail, expecting the presidential pardon, he mets... See full summary »

Director:

André Cayatte

Writers:

André Cayatte (scenario), Charles Spaak (scenario & dialogue)

Stars:

Marcel Mouloudji, Raymond Pellegrin, Antoine Balpêtré

Nominated for 2 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Marcel Mouloudji	...	René Le Guen
Raymond Pellegrin	...	Gino Bollini
Antoine Balpêtré	...	Dr. Albert Dutoit
Julien Verdier	...	Bauchet
Claude Laydu	...	Philippe Arnaud
Georges Poujouly	...	Michel Le Guen
Jacqueline Pierreux	...	Yvonne Le Guen (version française)
Lucien Nat	...	L'avocat général
Louis Arbessier	...	L'avocat du tribunal pour enfants
René Blancard	...	Albert Pichon
Léonce Corne	...	Le colonel instructeur
Henri Crémieux	...	L'avocat de Bauchet
Jean Daurand	...	Girard, l'homme dans la cabine téléphonique
Yvonne de Bray	...	La chiffonnière
Guy Decomble	...	Un inspecteur

Storyline

Rene is not a bright guy. He was taught to kill by the Resistance. But the WW2 is over and he keeps on killing. He is condemned to death. In jail, expecting the presidential pardon, he mets other condemned men. An anti-capital punishment drama, written and directed by a former lawyer.

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Plot Keywords:

prison | french noir

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Taglines:

Be prepared for an overwhelming experience!

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

France Italy

Language:

French

Release Date:

8 January 1957 (USA)

Also Known As:

Are We All Murderers?

Filming Locations:

Studios de Boulogne, Avenue Jean-Baptiste Clément, Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jolly Film, Labor Films, Union Générale Cinématographique (UGC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Optiphone)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

User Reviews

Hypocrite Society

In World War II, the illiterate, starving and alcoholic twenty years old René Le Guen (Marcel Mouloudji) fights to survive and lives with his dysfunctional family in a slum. The French Resistance invites and teaches him to kill Germans and traitors. When the war ends, he continues to kill and is arrested, judged and sentenced to death in the guillotine. While in prison waiting for a possible presidential pardon claimed by his lawyer, he meets other prisoners also waiting for the dishonored death.

"Nous Sommes Tous des Assassins" is the most impressive movie against capital sentence that I have ever seen. The lawyer André Cayatte wrote and directed this film where the defendant is actually the hypocrisy of the whole society, the church and the justice system. He does not spare the prejudgment and behavior of every social class, mostly the dominant class, to defend his opinion about the lack of humanity in the French prisons for the prisoners waiting for the executioner. In my country, we do not have capital sentence, but in my opinion this great movie is manipulative, using very sad and unfair examples to justify the position of the author. I agree that children and those that need should be assisted by the State but in spite of being fruit of the society, criminals destroy families and must pay for their crime the same way the families grieve their beloved loss. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Somos Todos Assassinos" ("We Are All Assassins")