Le corps de mon ennemi (1976)

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 ... See full summary »

Director:

Henri Verneuil

Writers:

Michel Audiard (screenplay and dialogue), Félicien Marceau (novel)

Stars:

Jean-Paul Belmondo, Bernard Blier, Marie-France Pisier

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jean-Paul Belmondo	...	François Leclercq
Bernard Blier	...	Jean-Baptiste Liégard
Marie-France Pisier	...	Gilberte Liégard
Charles Gérard	...	Le chauffeur de taxi
Daniel Ivernel	...	Victor Verbruck, le maire
Claude Brosset	...	Oscar, dit Janine
Michel Beaune	...	L'ami d'enfance
François Perrot	...	Raphaël Di Massa
René Lefèvre	...	Pierre Leclercq
Nicole Garcia	...	Hélène Mauve
Yvonne Gaudeau	...	Madame Liégard (dite 'la Reine Mère')
Suzy Prim	...	La mère de Marie-Adélaïde
Jean Dasté	...	Le gardien du chantier
Jacques David	...	L'avocat général
Jean Turlier	...	La Roche-Bernard

Storyline

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:

ex convict | murder | death | sado masochism | memory | 

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

---

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

13 October 1976 (France)

Also Known As:

O Corpo do Meu Inimigo

Filming Locations:

Rue d'Amsterdam, Tourcoing, Nord, France

Box Office

Budget:

FRF 15,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Andrea Films, Cerito Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

French visa # 45555.

---

Quotes

François Leclercq: At your age and with the name you bear, Madam, dirty words can only be... quotations.

---

Connections

References The Grapes of Wrath (1940)

User Reviews

Big ambitions.

Verneuil began his career as a minor film noir director :"des gens sans importance" was certainly an interesting effort.In the sixties,he became the king of the box office with the likes of "melodie en sous-sol" and "le clan des siliciens.These were commercial entertaining flicks.

With "peur sur la ville" ,one of his best thrillers,he began to show more ambition.

With "le corps de mon ennemi" he thought he could become (why not?) a "meaningful" director in the continuum of (roughly ) Clouzot-to Cayatte-to Chabrol-to Boisset.But he is not original enough to justify the banality of his insights and to the extent that his films (this one and the next one "I comme Icare") are meant to be political statements,they are cowardly..The rivalry Blier/Belmondo's father (roughly the right-wing baddie versus the good leftish guy) is given a treatment which stands no danger of shocking or raising questions.Even the trick (it's raining photographs during the meeting) is borrowed from Clouzot's "le corbeau" (1943) The first part ,however,includes good scenes:Belmondo entering the bourgeois world is sometimes interesting.He gets good support from Blier and earnest thespian Marie-France Pisier .The best is probably the dinner where all the posh people exchange trivialities and Pisier's mother ,a bubble head woman ,takes the biscuit.Unfortunately most of the characters disappear during the second part (the number one nightclub)and when they come back,for a monopoly game(!)it's too late.

The "grammar" of the story,its only originality ,is that it features three tenses :present (Belmondo's come back and his revenge),past (the trial;very short sequences) and past perfect (why Belmondo was in jail).