Les assassins de l'ordre

Among the poor Carné's production of the sixties / seventies,"Les Assassins de l'Ordre" is certainly the most watchable.A story of a judge (Brel) investigating Police corruption ,it looks like an André Cayatte work .Like in the latter's contemporary effort ("Mourir d' Aimer" ) you can feel the May 68 zeitgeist all through the movie.It badly dates the work ,and the students demonstrations were already cinema clichés.Carné's directing is sometimes ponderous but the actors survive :Jacques Brel ,Michael Lonsdale,Catherine Rouvel and Charles Denner are all excellent.

Note:Didier Haudepin,who plays the judge's son, was once the marvelous Alexandre in Jean Delannoy's overlooked "Les Amitiés Particulières" (1964).