Nada (1974)

A group of anarchist leftist called "Nada" and led by the terrorist Buenaventura Diaz abducts the American ambassador Richard Poindexter in a brothel in Paris and brings him to a farm in ... See full summary »

Director:

Claude Chabrol

Writers:

Claude Chabrol (screenplay), Antonietta Malzieri (screenplay)

Stars:

Fabio Testi, Maurice Garrel, Lou Castel

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Fabio Testi	...	Buenaventura Diaz
Michel Duchaussoy	...	Marcel Treuffais
Maurice Garrel	...	André Épaulard
Michel Aumont	...	Goemond
Lou Castel	...	D'Arey
Didier Kaminka	...	Meyer
André Falcon	...	Le ministre / The Minister
François Perrot
Lyle Joyce	...	Richard Poindexter
Viviane Romance	...	Madame Gabrielle
Mariangela Melato	...	Veronique Cash
Henri Attal
Jean-Marie Arnoux
George Birt
François Cadet

Storyline

A group of anarchist leftist called "Nada" and led by the terrorist Buenaventura Diaz abducts the American ambassador Richard Poindexter in a brothel in Paris and brings him to a farm in the countryside. The French Minister gives a blank cheque to the violent chief of police Goemond that is assigned to destroy the kidnappers. Then the Minister makes him the scapegoat of the messy situation to protect the State.

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Plot Keywords:

terrorist | american ambassador | police | ambassador | violence | 

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Taglines:

They Were All Rotten to the Core!

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Genres:

Thriller

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Details

Country:

France Italy

Language:

French

Release Date:

6 February 1974 (France)

Also Known As:

Anarhikoi

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Italian International Film,Les Films de la Boétie,Verona Produzione

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film is based on the novel "Nada", by Jean-Patrick Manchette. In fact, while the gang members are discussing the plan in Treuffais' apartment, Díaz notes that the brothel the ambassador should be at is located between Kleber Avenue and Manchette Street. That is a screenwriters' funny idea. In the novel, there is not any Manchette Street, obviously.

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Quotes

Buenaventura Diaz: [after shooting the hostage] They've come to kill us! Not to capture us but to massacre us! That's one less diplomat!

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Connections

Featured in Le fils de Gascogne (1995)

User Reviews

Not the best that Chabrol has to offer

Claude Chabrol had his golden period in the late sixties and early seventies with films like This Man Must Die, The Breach and Wedding in Blood. These films were great because Chabrol delivered thrills and complex characters in equal measures; but Nada is something of a change of pace and unfortunately this film is not vintage Chabrol. The film features basically a criminal plot and this is mixed in with political elements. From a personal point of view, politics doesn't interest me that much anyway; but that is especially true here as Chabrol isn't able to spin an interesting story out of it. The plot focuses on a group of kidnappers that call themselves 'NADA'. They hatch a plot to kidnap the American ambassador, take him back to their hideaway and wait for the Government to give into their ransom demands. The plot goes smoothly; but the gang encounter trouble when internal rivalries begin to spring up; and they find out that the police chief they're up against is less forgiving than they are.

From Claude Chabrol I have come to expect intriguing and meaningful films that work on a multitude of levels. Part of the reason why I don't consider Nada to be anything like Chabrol's best work is simply because I don't care about the subject matter (as opposed to the best of Chabrol, which have the ability to appeal to everyone). However, the fact still remains that this is not a particularly good film. The point of the film is muddled at best and Chabrol's message is always hazy. The plotting is not particularly exciting and since the plot line is not interesting; Nada does at times become difficult to follow. To its credit, the film is rather well made and as always Chabrol does a good job of staging and setting scenes. The acting is decent too and Chabrol has brought together a varied and interesting cast, headed by Italian actor Fabio Testi, who plays their respective roles well. Overall I would not recommend this to my fellow Chabrol fans; the great director has a vast filmography filled with classics and I would recommend seeing those instead.