This film just shows up every now and then on Turner Classic Movies in a dubbed version: it's a surprisingly moving film from the 1960s, a period in which cultural values were undergoing major changes. The hero, played by a dazzlingly handsome and charismatic Alain Delon, is a Foreign Legion deserter and has decided, after his quick escape, that amid all the political drum beating in France and Algeria at the time, all he wants to do is return quietly home and tend his bees and see a daughter left behind. He wants no more of shooting. Little does he know.
Delon must find enough francs to smuggle himself across the waters to France, and in selling his services gets caught up in a chase situation with a woman hostage, and by this time the willing viewer will be caught up as well--the cinematography is compelling, the music score unobtrusive but appropriate, and actors backing up the central performance all give memorable performances that often cross paths in one way or another.
Usually I run screaming from the screen when a film is dubbed from French or Italian into English, all the gestures and voice qualities out of whack with the original film or actor. This one, however, works well, and I found within ten minutes I was lost in the chase; the only complaint I had was in the nature of the ending, and there is no place in an informative review to discuss it here. See for yourself--if you can find it.
Delon must find enough francs to smuggle himself across the waters to France, and in selling his services gets caught up in a chase situation with a woman hostage, and by this time the willing viewer will be caught up as well--the cinematography is compelling, the music score unobtrusive but appropriate, and actors backing up the central performance all give memorable performances that often cross paths in one way or another.
Usually I run screaming from the screen when a film is dubbed from French or Italian into English, all the gestures and voice qualities out of whack with the original film or actor. This one, however, works well, and I found within ten minutes I was lost in the chase; the only complaint I had was in the nature of the ending, and there is no place in an informative review to discuss it here. See for yourself--if you can find it.