Someone said this to be the French 'Straw dogs', and so I got interested. There are some similarities, especially the revenge motif, but other than that, 'Le vieux fusil' is quite a unique film on its own.
Philippe Noiret is perfect to play the this character, who becomes instantly obsessed with revenge after he finds his wife raped (this is shown in a flashback, but his character can only guess) and burnt alive with a flame thrower, and his daughter shot in the back. His character, Julien, is a respected doctor who tries to go on with his life in spite of the war, even joking about a nurse's sex life and not putting up much of a fight when the enemy comes into his hospital to take some suspects away - what could he do?
Well, what he could do, we see later on, but only when his close family is involved. Like a trained soldier, he works out a plan in which he continuously manages to keep the upper hand over the Germans, who at some point are sure they are surrounded by many Partisans - his extensive knowledge of the castle and its architectural secrets being his great advantage.
The film switches back and forth between sweet and sour memories of Julien, his wife and his daughter, and the brutal attacks he embarks upon to exact revenge - in the end it becomes clear how much he lost his mind. It did go back and forth a little too much for my taste, but it's still a pretty unique and intense piece of film, immersed in blood, sweat and tears.
8 out of 10.
Philippe Noiret is perfect to play the this character, who becomes instantly obsessed with revenge after he finds his wife raped (this is shown in a flashback, but his character can only guess) and burnt alive with a flame thrower, and his daughter shot in the back. His character, Julien, is a respected doctor who tries to go on with his life in spite of the war, even joking about a nurse's sex life and not putting up much of a fight when the enemy comes into his hospital to take some suspects away - what could he do?
Well, what he could do, we see later on, but only when his close family is involved. Like a trained soldier, he works out a plan in which he continuously manages to keep the upper hand over the Germans, who at some point are sure they are surrounded by many Partisans - his extensive knowledge of the castle and its architectural secrets being his great advantage.
The film switches back and forth between sweet and sour memories of Julien, his wife and his daughter, and the brutal attacks he embarks upon to exact revenge - in the end it becomes clear how much he lost his mind. It did go back and forth a little too much for my taste, but it's still a pretty unique and intense piece of film, immersed in blood, sweat and tears.
8 out of 10.