
A murky, downbeat spy thriller written by José Giovanni and starring Lino Ventura. A French spy in Vienna is suspected of being a double agent, and a colleague of his is sent over to investigate. When the former man is kidnapped by the Russians, his complex network of contacts has to be unravelled in order to trace an important microfilm. The two final ironic twists sort of cancel each other out, but a British director and Michael Caine could have done wonders with this script. Deray’s dry, anonymous matter-of-factness would be more suited to the parable of Un papillon sur l’épaule that he made with Ventura about a decade later.Read More »