ags123
After forking over big bucks for this hard-to-find DVD, I tried several times (unsuccessfully) to get through it without falling asleep. From the reviews I expected a taut, cool thriller. No such luck. It soon became an unconvincing, muddled mess with not an ounce of suspense. Lola Albright looks fantastic; Why she wasn't a bigger star is the real mystery here. Jane Fonda (in her pre-feminist/militant days) looks the best she ever did. Alain Delon's appeal is lost on me. All three could use a few lessons from The Actor's Studio. The Lalo Schifrin score tries hard, but even at its noisiest couldn't rouse me from my semiconscious state. Anyone wanna buy a used DVD?
ma-cortes
A French playboy named Marc(Alain Delon) seduces the spouse of an American gangster who sends his hoodlums after him . Marc on the run from the mobsters terminates on the French Riviera . He hides out by becoming the chauffeur to rich heir named Barbara(Lola Albright) at the Ghotic château that is also where he knows her niece(Jane Fonda)working as servant and continuously tries to seduce him. Meanwhile the goons have got his whereabout.This intriguing film also titled¨ The love cage¨ contains suspense, noir drama, romance,thrills and splendid acting. Strong main cast formed by Alain Delon, actor most used in Rene Clement films (Blazing sun, Joy of living, Is Paris burning ?), furthermore the American actresses as an attractive mature Lola Albright and a gorgeous Jane Fonda who is always hot for him. As trivia to detach the secondary appearance of George Gaynes, the famous commandant Lassard from Academy Police series. Thrilling and exciting script based on novel titled ¨Joy house¨ by Day Keene. However the argument is a little complicated and full of plot twists. Adequate cinematography in white and black by magnificent cameraman Henry Decae. Atmospheric soundtrack with catching leitmotif by Lalo Schifrin, a classical musician from the 60s and 70s, even today composing . The picture is well realized by Rene Clement . He's an expert on thrillers(Baby sitter, House under the trees, Rider on the rain) and WWII films(Is Paris burning?,The damned, Battle of the rails), resulting to be his best one titled ¨Forbidden games¨. Rating: Good and better than average. This nice movie will appeal to Alain Delon and Jane Fonda fans.
Benoît A. Racine (benoit-3)
I never saw the English dubbing of this film, but I saw the French original and it is superlative. The music by Lalo Shiffrin is absolutely groundbreaking and a promise of "missions impossible" to come. The photography and editing only give Godard's "Breathless" a knowing passing reference but are way ahead of anything the so-called New Wave (with its stuttering scripts, faulty story-telling, amateur production values and intellectual pretensions) could ever come up with. You'll think you're watching outtakes of "A Hard Day's Night" and the film would still be better than most of today's US suspense-actioners if it hadn't been for the invention of the steadycam. You haven't truly lived until you have experienced Jane Fonda's French-speaking virginal sex kitten act. A taut thriller, extremely modern, from a filmmaker who was always synonymous with the principle of "quality first". Like many French film classics, it is inspired by those oh-so-exotic British/US "romans noirs" (crime novels). And it is a statement on the cold fact that women are about to take over the world and that those lovely little menzipoos can only be relied on for violence and sex.
theeht
If you can hang in til the climax, you'll be rewarded with some surprise twists, and a predictable ending. Otherwise it's a plodding, average mystery film with nice on location filming of the french Rivera. Beautiful Lola is terrific as a mysterious lady, and Jane is a sexy doll(not one of her better performances, though), but Delon is a surprisingly wooden leading man.
AD
