La peau de torpedo (1970)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Jean Delannoy

Writers:

Jean Cau (writer)
Jean Delannoy (writer)

Release Date:

3 June 1970 (France)

Genre:

Crime

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel

Cast

Stéphane Audran	...	Dominique
Klaus Kinski	...	Pavel Richko / Torpédo I
Lilli Palmer	...	Helen
Michel Constantin	...	Coster
Angelo Infanti	...	Jean / Gianni
Jean Claudio	...	La Filature
Frédéric de Pasquale	...	Nicolas Baslier
Noëlle Adam	...	L'amie de Dominique
Philippe March	...	Le vendeur (as Aimé de March)
Christine Fabréga	...	Sylvianne Collet
Jacques Harden	...	L'inspecteur de Police de Paris
Micheline Luccioni	...	L'employée des postes
Georges Lycan	...	Torpédo II
Philippine Pascal
Bernard Musson	...	L'inspecteur de Police de Fécamp

Also Known As:

Children of Mata Hari
Der Mann mit der Torpedohaut (West Germany)
Dossier 212 - destinazione morte (Italy)
Only the Cool (USA)
Pill of Death (UK)

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

France | Italy | West Germany

Language:

French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:PG

Company:

Comacico

A premier ambience film

This, one of the premier ambience films of the genre, appears at the end of the sixties cycle of spy films. It is a serious, even dour film that focuses equally on both sides of the espionage fence with sympathies for neither. Here, spying is a business but it is not without its emotions, albeit suppressed and discarded as required, and death is almost always a matter of honor. When death is unexpected it is also unfair, a matter of happenstance that triggers far reaching consequences.

The plot consists of good guys and bad guys trying to out maneuver each other while both are after Stephane Audran. The complexities of the film extend beyond plotting. The `good' guys in the film are hardly more than cyphers; they play the espionage odds, sometimes winning, sometimes losing, without developing traits one would associate with human character. The `bad' guys on the other hand, are well rounded people that suffer and consider but do their jobs anyway.

Suicide, the controlled death, plays a large part in the film. It is a means of conquering enemies, expressing love, admitting defeat. It's those that live on in their confusion and misery that we must pity. This fine mood piece is complimented by a melancholy score by Francois de Roubaix which captures the ennui without bringing too much attention to itself.