Le corps de mon ennemi (1976)

Director:

Henri Verneuil

Writers:

Michel Audiard (screenplay)
Félicien Marceau (novel)

Release Date:

13 October 1976 (France)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

Francois always despised the textile barons who ruled his local town. But he fell in love with the family heiress Gilberte. Ten years ago, he would have married her. Now only hatred holds them together. Francois is accused of murder. A hooker and a football star lie slaughtered. He thinks he has been framed by the mob. Going underground, he finds that the trail leads all the way to the top - to Gilberte's family. He needs friends. And friends are hard to come by in his town.

Plot Keywords:

Revenge | Female Nudity | Police | Stripper | Flanders

Cast

Jean-Paul Belmondo	...	François Leclercq
Bernard Blier	...	Jean-Baptiste Liégeard
Marie-France Pisier	...	Gilberte Liégeard
Charles Gérard	...	Le chauffeur de taxi / Taxi driver
Daniel Ivernel	...	Victor Verbruck
Claude Brosset	...	Oscar
Michel Beaune	...	L'ami d'enfance / Childhood friend
François Perrot	...	Raphaël Di Massa
René Lefèvre	...	Pierre Leclercq
Nicole Garcia	...	Hélène Mauve
Yvonne Gaudeau	...	Madame Liégeard (dite "la Reine Mère")
Suzy Prim	...	La mère de Marie-Adélaïde / Marie-Adélaïde's mother
Jean Dasté	...	Le gardien du chantier / Keeper
Jacques David	...	L'avocat général
Jean Turlier	...	La Roche-Bernard

Also Known As:

Body of My Enemy (International: English title)
The Body of my Enemy (Australia)

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Lille, Nord, France

Company:

Cerito Films

Movie Connections:

References The Grapes of Wrath (1940)

Any serious movie-goer should see this one

I'm not talking about the kind of people who watch films like URBAN LEGEND or get their kicks out of seeing fast-paced Hollywood blockbusters. Whatever. This example of high-brow filmmaking should be on the viewing list of any film lecturer or theorist. Did you like PULP FICTION? Well, forget it. After seeing this film you will be inclined to call Tarantino's "masterpiece" a playful variation of what you CAN do on film.

Using the powerful technique of a frame narrative, director Verneuil goes on to tell the story of an ex-convict (Belmondo), who returns to his scene of "crime". He returns to the people he was involved with and ponders about the good and bad times he had. What really happened all these years ago? What is he going to do? Actually, the past is not catching up with him, he is catching up with the past.

A serious, intelligent (even intellectual) film, subtle to the nth degree, a must-see. And yet nobody (or hardly anybody) knows of its existence. Discover this masterpiece. It's worth it. No one (repeat: NO ONE) has linked the past and present better than Henri Verneuil. If you want to know what filmmaking can be about (and mostly isn't), check this out.

If you make it through this film and still think that it's about football, Hollywood has changed your perception for the worse. Tune your brain in to Henri Verneuil and this film and you will SEE.

Watch Le Corps de Mon Ennemi. Watch I... Comme Icare (Verneuil's follow-up) and you'll KNOW what you have missed all these years.