Teringer An Exercise In Nonsense

ShangLuda Admirable film.

RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

MartinHafer This is an interesting film in structure, as the main conflict doesn't even present itself until almost 40 minutes into the film. Up until then, it's a very nice story about an ex-con (Alain Delon) and his good friend--a social worker who befriended him in prison and has worked to help rehabilitate him (Jean Gabin). However, even though Delon is doing a great job on his parole (even after tragedy strikes)and is living an honest life, an old cop who arrested him a decade earlier has decided that it's his mission to PROVE that Delon didn't change and is just another con waiting to show his true colors! And so, doggedly, the cop seems determined to push Delon until he forces his to turn bad.While the parallels are not perfect and the setting has been updated to modern France, this sure seemed like a reworking of the classic Victor Hugo story "Les Misérables". Like the leading man from the novel, Jean Valjean, Delon's character has changed after leaving prison and is committed to doing right. And, like Javert, the cop who suddenly enters his life will stop at nothing to prove that a man like Delon CAN'T change despite all appearances to the contrary. So, the cop harasses the man's employer, his girlfriend...any one and everyone. He brings Delon in for interrogations and pushes the man unmercifully--so much so that you assume sooner or later Delon will snap. What happens next is a bit of a shock--and makes for an exciting finale and a very compelling film.It's interesting, by the way, that the bad cop is not the only thing in the system that conspires to keep criminals criminals. Other than Gabin, the rest of the prison officials in the film seem like reactionaries--who unintentionally perpetuate the problems through their stupidity. While this is somewhat of an over-simplification, I like this angle, as prison officials often do make the problems worse (I used to work with the prison system like Gabin's character and was amazed at how corrupt or dumb some of these men were--including come guards who were simply sadists). It's a novel approach (aside from the Hugo novel) and made the film quite compelling. Plus, it humanized Delon so much that you hurt for him and really were rooting for him throughout the film.

Camera Obscura TWO AGAINST THE LAW (José Giovanni - France/Italy 1973).Alain Delon is former safe-cracker Gino Strabliggi, who is released from prison after mediation by prison reformer Germain Cazeneuve (Gabin). Banned from Paris by statute, Gino tries to make a new start in Montpellier, in the south of France, where he finds honest work as a printer and a new love in the form of Lucie (Mimsy Farmer). The vengeful policeman inspector Javert (Michel Bouquet), who arrested Gino in Paris, pursues him to Montpellier and harasses him, his employer and his new girlfriend. Gino, who desperately tries to straighten his life, is increasingly pushed to breaking point. A pretty much unknown Gérard Depardieu also has a small part (only one scene actually) as a young ambitious gangster who tries to intimidate Gino early on in the film.The whole plot is much too obvious and bears little surprises. The film begins well enough but early on, it's clear Gino is gonna snap at some point. The middle part is slowly paced and - quite simply - boring. In the end, with the court scene and a dramatic ending, the film comes back to life in a way, but that came a little too late for me. Gabin and Delon carry this a long way, with Gabin more world-weary than ever, but he seems just as tired as everybody in the film. But he delivers and - as always - remains fascinating to watch. Delon is ultra slick, handsome and cool, especially for a ex-convict, but he's not given much material to shine. In one small scene, when he is summoned to keep the music down by the neighbours in his Montpellier apartment, he only needs his body language to intimidate. As far as French actors are concerned, he remains the ultimate example of sophisticated coolness.Corsican born director Jose Giovanni was on death row himself shortly after World War II, and was pardoned by the French president. Obviously this story is a cause celèbre the director, but his attack on the French justice system and the death penalty is heavy-handed and obvious in the extreme. After a while, with Gabin's voice-over hammering home the director's convictions, I couldn't care less about Gino's fate. The much praised score by Philipe Sarde comes across as old fashioned and overly clammy now, not much of a recommendation as far as I'm concerned. This could have been much better, but it's of minor interest for Delon or Gabin fans at best.Camera Obscura --- 5/10

dbdumonteil Although "le Rapace" , "Dernier domicile Connu" and even " la Loi du Survivant" are certainly superior to "deux Hommes dans la Ville" ,the latter is Giovanni's definitive statement against death penalty.He and André Cayatte were the two French directors who really fought during their careers and their films certainly contributed to its abolishment in 1981.Giovanni would come back to his favourite subject with "comme un Boomerang" and" une Robe Noire pour un Tueur",but those were much weaker efforts.And his final work "Mon père" is not devoid of leniency."Deux Hommes dans la Ville "is A WINNER.First thing to bear in mind is that ,at its time of release,French critics were chilly ,they sneered when they saw Michel Bouquet 's cop character.They had probably forgotten "Les misérables" ,Javert and Jean Valjean.Giovanni's cop is not implausible and Bouquet's sly face is ideal.By and large,the cast is dazzling:we find an actor from the heyday of the French cinema ,Gabin,(Delon's fate recalls some parts of young Gabin "le jour se lève" and "Quai des Brumes"),then from the second generation (Delon) and even the third one is represented with Gerard Depardieu and Bernard Giraudeau -whose part is certainly the weakest of the script:the post-68 student ,we have seen this character too many times- Supporting cast also includes Victor Lanoux and Malka Ribowska ,as a convincing lawyer who is Giovanni's spokesman(woman!)when she expresses her horror of this "razor" (guillotine)which reduces France to the level of the under developed countries.Gino (Delon) paid for what he'd done.He deserved a chance to pick up the pieces.His awakening,on THE fatal morning,is absolutely terrifying.

Aleluya (SPOILERS) This is the story of a man (Delon) who commits a mistake (a bank robbery) and, although being an excellent person, is never given a second chance by so-called justice. The film is slow (but certainly not boring) as we assist to the development of the character; we see him recovering from 10 years of prison after the bank assault. We also see his love for a first woman, who dies in a car crash (note that nobody actually goes to jail for that "accident" -it was during a car race, and Delon and his wife find themselves right into it without not even knowing it-). After that, he recovers and moves to Montpellier, always under the assistance of his protector (and narrator of the film), where he finds a good job and falls in love with a wonderful girl who happens to work in a bank. Misluck follows then. A "fair" cop who was in his first arrest ten years ago finds him in Montpellier and immediately believes that he is running after mischief. As the cop harasses him (and his wife and his friends) more and more, and tries to link him with another Bank robbery that he has definitely not committed, Delon founds himself hopelessly trapped in the net of justice. Exhasperated, Delon finally kills the cop in the wave of rage (quite understandably) and predictably he is sent to jail and sentenced to death. Death sequence that follows (operated by the all-times star french guillotine) is tactful and strikingly hard, and (thankfully) rather short. The film is quite surprising and the sequence of acts matches like an infernal machine of doom: he main character cannot escape but can see it approaching (so can we). All in all is a perfect rebuke to the hypocrisy of the so-called Justice. A must watch.