Watching this film, I repeatedly failed to shake off the "who cares?" feeling. "Le tueur" miserably fails to deliver. It is not entirely unwatchable, but this is mainly due to the presence of highly-acclaimed legends such as Gabin and Blier, who wasted their talents here majorly. The story is flimsy: dangerous criminal breaks out deviously, hides from the police with the help of old mates hoping for an escape abroad (with a girl he picked up on the way) – he keeps one step ahead of the cops all the time, partly due to his ruthlessness, until the police begin to attempt using equally cunning methods. The ending is predictably abrupt, yet lacks the ingenious elegance one is hoping for. This movie has no redeeming features such as artistic photography (though I did like the geographical locations) or striking mood-enhancing music. The characters all remain very flat. We don't take to the killer (for the obvious fact he is a ruthless killer), not even when he unconvincingly starts developing warm feelings for Gerda (Uschi Glas). Strangely enough, he is not even a convincing psycho, looking much too nice to be one. All we are left with are the apparent differences between Le Guen (Gabin) and Tellier (Blier) and the way the police are plodding to get results. And even all that is not too impressive.
6 Reviews
Jean Gabin as Jean Gabin chasing Fabio Testi
JasparLamarCrabb16 March 2015
Warning: Spoilers
One of several late career films to feature Jean Gabin essentially playing himself - world-weary, knowing and more than a little exhausted. Here he plays a soon to retire cop pursuing escaped lunatic Fabio Testi throughout Paris & Marseille. The film, directed by Denys de La Patellière, may be a bit pedestrian but it's still a treat to watch the great Gabin. He's well matched with Testi, an actor not usually cast as such a ruthless hellion. It's a fast paced, gritty and highly unspectacular film. The supporting cast includes Bernard Blier, a very young Gerard Depardieu, Jacques Richard as Testi's extremely patient brother and Uschi Glas as the unlucky Gurda. The brightly lit cinematography is by the legendary Claude Renoir.
The Dirty Side Of Policing
boblipton23 December 2022
Fabio Testi is a professional killer who's been caught. He gets himself transferred to a psychiatric hospital then engineers an escape with the help of his brother, Jacques Richard. It's up to homicide commissioner Jean Gabin to catch him, with director Bernard Blier trying to impose less old-fashioned methods on the old detective who only has five months to retirement and knows how to use his old-fashioned methods.
It's an ugly movie, made deliberately ugly by the way DP Claude Renoir shoots it; there''s smoke and fog, and the backgrounds are full of rubble and rubbish, and everything seems to have a brown edge to it -- although the use of Eastmancolor, which has probably faded over the last half century doesn't make anything look better. It's a police procedural, but it's not the clean sort, with cops who look like they're on the take, and Blier more concerned with things looking good with the public than in stopping Testi, who racks up a considerable body count over the course of the movie. It looks like the French equivalent of DIRTY HARRY.
It's an ugly movie, made deliberately ugly by the way DP Claude Renoir shoots it; there''s smoke and fog, and the backgrounds are full of rubble and rubbish, and everything seems to have a brown edge to it -- although the use of Eastmancolor, which has probably faded over the last half century doesn't make anything look better. It's a police procedural, but it's not the clean sort, with cops who look like they're on the take, and Blier more concerned with things looking good with the public than in stopping Testi, who racks up a considerable body count over the course of the movie. It looks like the French equivalent of DIRTY HARRY.
Specially for Bernard Blier!
RodrigAndrisan19 October 2022
Bernard Blier is the best actor in this, like in many other films. Then Jean Gabin. Both, Blier and Gabin, are two giants from the category of great actors. It's always a great pleasure to see them in a film, even when they are playing themselves, it's a matter of charm, charisma, personality and immense talent. Fabio Testi and Uschi Glas are not part of the category of great actors, they are part of the category of decorative beauties. Gérard Depardieu has a much too small role for me to express an opinion. The story is trivial, from the deja vu category. Hubert Giraud's music is special good. And the cinematography of Claude Renoir is elaborated. Worth seeing but it's not a masterpiece.
Limp,lethargic,listless...
dbdumonteil3 November 2004
This would be violent thriller is thoroughly devoid of interest.Jean Gabin's career reached its nadir in the sixties and the seventies .At the time,Carné,Renoir,Grémillon,Ophuls,Duvivier and Autant-Lara were either dead or artistically dead and Gabin never worked (perhaps wisely)with the Nouvelle Vague.He could have tried Chabrol though.
This is the story of a killer (Fabio Testi's playing is appalling)and Gabin is hot on his heels .The movie is as obsolete as the computer(!) the Police use or Bernard Blier's recriminations about Gabin's assistant's long hair.Denys De la Patellière,a director who had NEVER produced a decent movie in a rather long career,with the exception of "retour de Manivelle" ,reached here one of his lowest points.
Gabin's career was almost over but another one was about to take off:Gerard Depardieu has a small part in the third half .His playing is not particularly remarkable.
This is the story of a killer (Fabio Testi's playing is appalling)and Gabin is hot on his heels .The movie is as obsolete as the computer(!) the Police use or Bernard Blier's recriminations about Gabin's assistant's long hair.Denys De la Patellière,a director who had NEVER produced a decent movie in a rather long career,with the exception of "retour de Manivelle" ,reached here one of his lowest points.
Gabin's career was almost over but another one was about to take off:Gerard Depardieu has a small part in the third half .His playing is not particularly remarkable.
a killer escapes
myriamlenys19 March 2023
Warning: Spoilers
When a dangerous criminal is deemed mentally ill, he gets transferred to a psychiatric institution. Whether he is entirely sane is debatable, but he's certainly rational and calculating enough to escape. Now that he's back roaming the streets, the population of France starts to decline in a worrying fashion...
"Le tueur" is a policier about the hunt for an escaped desperado. The cast includes famous names like Bernard Blier and Jean Gabin, two sacred monsters of French cinema, but neither of them get a particularly intriguing role. Both actors also look old and tired. The movie is serviceable enough but for some reason or other it fails to lift off.
For a movie about a killer on the loose, "Le tueur" doesn't bother too much about the character's motives and drives. The man is tall, handsome, athletic and clever - and yet he goes around killing his fellow humans with the same practiced ease as a farmer plucking tomatoes from their stalk. So what makes him tick ? The man also has an older brother, who's a fraudster involved in minor bloodless scams. (The trick with the dirty movies provides a rare note of humor.) You'd think that a person like that would know better than to participate in a killing spree, but no, he's forever helping his kid brother. Again : what makes him tick ? Your guess is as good as mine.
Not a bad movie, just one that fails to ignite and capture the imagination.
"Le tueur" is a policier about the hunt for an escaped desperado. The cast includes famous names like Bernard Blier and Jean Gabin, two sacred monsters of French cinema, but neither of them get a particularly intriguing role. Both actors also look old and tired. The movie is serviceable enough but for some reason or other it fails to lift off.
For a movie about a killer on the loose, "Le tueur" doesn't bother too much about the character's motives and drives. The man is tall, handsome, athletic and clever - and yet he goes around killing his fellow humans with the same practiced ease as a farmer plucking tomatoes from their stalk. So what makes him tick ? The man also has an older brother, who's a fraudster involved in minor bloodless scams. (The trick with the dirty movies provides a rare note of humor.) You'd think that a person like that would know better than to participate in a killing spree, but no, he's forever helping his kid brother. Again : what makes him tick ? Your guess is as good as mine.
Not a bad movie, just one that fails to ignite and capture the imagination.
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