2-LP special edition for the 1975 Henri Verneuil (The Sicilian Clan) cult thriller, Peur Sur La Ville from We Want Sounds.
This is a gorgeous re-issue of Morricone’s exciting score featuring great liner notes in the form of an interview, or “conversation” between AM and Jean-Benoit Dunckel (AIR) and a stunning gatefold layout.
“The music has a searching quality, like a shadow on your back…”
-AM
The Film:
The film is a perfect star vehicle for Belmondo in his post-Nouvelle Vague phase of his career.
Belmondo was, indisputably, one of France’s greatest movie stars.
He distinguished himself as a truly great actor in classic auteur pictures from some of the greatest French masters. From multiple collaborations with Godard (Breathless; A Woman Is A Woman; Pierot Le Feu) and Melville (Le Doulous; Leon Morin Pretre), to more commercial work with Vernuil (this film; Le Casse; ), that “most American of French directors,” Belmondo could do it all.
The story concerns a tough Parisian cop (Belmondo) on the hunt for a serial killer who targets the city’s young, single women, stalking them with obscene calls.
Vernuil’s film was a big success in France, but it was greatly underappreciated elsewhere. It’s a shame, because in my personal estimation, it may be the greatest Paris-set cop thriller ever made. Certainly the most entertaining.
It plays today like a pop art francophone version of The French Connection.
Verneuil’s film is replete with a breathtaking chase on top of a moving subway car – upping the ante (and danger) from Friedkin’s own subway chases.
It’s certainly pulpier than the French-set, John Frankenheimer-directed sequel (where the action took place in Marseille, rather than Paris). The Frankenheimer picture features an incredible performance from Gene Hackman that adds incredible nuance and hidden depth to his Oscar-winning portrayal of tough NYC cop, Popeye Doyle, in Pt. I. The “withdrawal” sequence alone was worth the price of admission and worthy of a 2nd Oscar.
As Commissaire Jean Letellier, Belmondo isn’t exactly going for Academy gold. This is his “Liam Neeson period,” where the roles require less of the intense, tortured, plumbing-the-depths character work of something like Leon Morin.
Films like this, and other notable Belmondo vehicles from this era – like Le Marginal and Le Profesionnel (all scored by Morricone!) require only that he kick ass. And that he does.
In this one, it may be more accurate to call him the French Tom Cruise or Jackie Chan than Liam Neeson. This is a film of set pieces built around jaw dropping stunts, like the above mentioned chase through the Paris Metro.
One of the great pleasures is how clear the picture makes it that Belmondo is performing his own stunts. This is pre-green screen and digital effects. And there are no cutaways to wide masters to hide the bait and switch of a stunt performer filling in for the star. There is no 007-like face-replacement technology (see the motorcycle sequence in Sam Mendes‘ Skyfall for comparison).
It’s really Belmondo on top of that elevated subway train!
And hanging from that helicopter!
It’s a true testament to Belmondo’s versatility as a performer that he could play the movie star parts and the art house actor roles, both, and equally, with such apparent ease. The camera loved him. And he seemed to love it right back.
Film Stills:
International Posters:
Watch the film on Canal+’s streaming app:
