Word: montand
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1960-1969
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...system is the present Greek government, and the adventure is the extrapolation of an incident in Athens, circa 1963. A Spock-like physician-politician (Yves Montand) addresses an antimilitary rally. As he leaves the assembly hall, he is viciously clubbed by hired assassins as a truck simultaneously brushes past him. Three days later, without regaining consciousness, he dies. Officials immediately offer smug condolences about the "regrettable traffic accident." But a few bits of offal stick to the whitewash. A journalist coaxes a witness into a confession; an alibi springs an irreparable leak. The incorruptible public prosecutor (Jean-Louis Trintignant) remains...
...partly by using dialogue that is more like lyrics than speech. According to traditionalist historians, there is no history, only biography. Z reverses the proposition; there are only forces, not men. Accordingly, the leading roles are the sort one would find on a chessboard. In an essentially small part, Montand is again Camus-like, at once involved and lofty. Trintignant, more through skill than script, turns the abstract notion of justice into a driven man who would shatter his career rather than bend the truth...
...maliciously attack one another. The Nazis used the film to demoralize the French and many French critics later attacked the film for its anti-French sentiments. But these criticisms missed the point. Clouzot is not anti-French, but mocking the human condition. His choice of a Corsican (Yvcs Montand), a Frenchman, an Italian, and a German for the four truck drivers makes his depressing judgment apply to all humans...
Another impressive scene is the one in which a truck has to be turned around on a wooden platform hanging over the edge of a cliff. The cutting and soundtrack of this scene prove Clouzot to be a master at editing and timing suspense scenes. (Yvcs Montand is the hero of this scene...
...DEVIL BY THE TAIL. Another droll essay by Philippe de Broca on the intricacies of love, starring Yves Montand at his sardonic best...