I had never heard of this film before but it turned out to be quite a strange little item, interesting and stylishly handled (with the disorientating editing and the score by Michel Colombier particularly notable).
Still, its point - other than being a denunciation of gratuitous violence, offset by a complex romance (Yves Montand and Katharine Ross make a nice couple here, even if their characters are pretty much left deliberately in the dark!) - is obscure, resulting in a generally pretentious film also taking in the justice system (Montand had been wrongfully imprisoned during the war and now, on revisiting his old cell, provides the current inmate with a means to escape!).
The most memorable thing about it, though, is the almost surreal presence of a karate-happy hooligan who, first, fells Montand in the lavatory of a hotel and, then, demolishes a confectionery owned by a pair of elderly female twins(!)...though he gets his just desserts soon after this hilarious episode.
Still, its point - other than being a denunciation of gratuitous violence, offset by a complex romance (Yves Montand and Katharine Ross make a nice couple here, even if their characters are pretty much left deliberately in the dark!) - is obscure, resulting in a generally pretentious film also taking in the justice system (Montand had been wrongfully imprisoned during the war and now, on revisiting his old cell, provides the current inmate with a means to escape!).
The most memorable thing about it, though, is the almost surreal presence of a karate-happy hooligan who, first, fells Montand in the lavatory of a hotel and, then, demolishes a confectionery owned by a pair of elderly female twins(!)...though he gets his just desserts soon after this hilarious episode.
