Darkling_Zeist Tough-as -Cop thriller from a clearly not-so-belle France, directed with a real flair for capturing gritty urban violence by Yves Boisset, whose muscular direction translates into suitably grimy thick-ear entertainment. Michel Bouquet is genuinely chilling as the hard boiled copper whose amoral and brutal journey to avenge the fruitless death of a fellow officer leads him deep into a violent existential nightmare. 'Un Conde' is a magnificently bleak, philosophical euro crime from France which works brilliantly as a savage expose of police barbarity, dealing unflinchingly with the ultimate societal conundrum; must one become like the beasts in order to deal with the beast? The only thing that mars this fabulous Gallic treat is that the source VHS print is a trifle muddy. A lush full-monty DVD-Bluray needs to be organised for this fine example of French Nihilism.

dbdumonteil Generally,this movie is considered the first "true " film of this director .It had huge problems with the censorship (it was not to be the last time : "RAS" and "Le Juge Fayard Dit Le Sheriff" had also problems) because of the way it showed the police ,whose "methods" were close to those of gangsters;in order not to ruin his producer ,the director cut 8 minutes and remade a whole scene.It's still watchable today ,thanks to Boisset's nervy style even before the cast and credits :the prologue is violence itself and violence is present -such an intensity was not common in 1970-all through the movie till the last pictures."The role of the police is to take care of the society as it is ,not to reform it" says chief superintendent Adolfo "thunderball" Celi;and another sentence has remained famous;the cop (Michel bouquet) to Françoise Fabian " a body which works well is not a body which does not produce waste ,but which eliminates them properly".We feel the "after 68" zeitgeist in the meeting at the beginning of the movie and the posters in Rufus's house shows Boisset's anti -militarism -which will come to the fore with "RAS" in 1973);one of the posters reads:"army humiliates,imprisons and kills "That said,the characters are cardboard ("deep" figures have never been Boisset's forte and never will),the screenplay rather simplistic -compared to the works to come such as "Dupont La Joie",but it has become a film noir semi-classic ;indeed,Michel Bouquet's character verges on madness nay psychopathy with a straight face and a total lack of humanity.Yves Boisset was actually the successor of André Cayatte ,with more aplomb and less endearing characters .All through the seventies,he tried to clean the Augean stables of his country.NB "Condé " in French has 2 meanings a)cop b)a deal which allows one to pursue illegal activities in exchange for information; the second meaning can be applied to Françoise Fabian's brother who wants to stay loyal and pure and refused the deal

kinsayder Yves Boisset's "Un condé" (from the French slang for cop) is a sort of Gallic "Dirty Harry", a police thriller that raises awkward questions about how far across the line the good guys can step in order to clear up society's mess. Inspector Favenin (Michel Bouquet) undoubtedly goes too far. When his idealistic but ineffectual partner is killed pursuing the culprits of a gang revenge attack (a pursuit instigated by Favenin himself), the embittered cop, realising that conventional police methods won't work, takes matters into his own hands.At first, it's hard to resist cheering as he takes on the worst of the gang thugs using their own methods. But when his ruthless pursuit for revenge starts to impinge on the more sympathetic characters in the story, including an essentially decent man who gets beaten up in front of his young son, we are forced to question where our sympathies lie.Boisset's functional, low-key direction, while lacking the stylistic flamboyance of Melville, serves the story well, and makes the frequent outbursts of violence all the more shocking. Bouquet is well-cast as the soft-spoken, solitary, buttoned-up and near-psychopathic Favenin, a more complex (and scarier because unpredictable) character than Eastwood's Harry Callahan. Whereas in "Dirty Harry" the hero's methods are questionable but his goals are morally correct, Favenin clearly has more personal motives that are not necessarily consistent with the public good. Even so, his pragmatic boss is willing to overlook his actions provided they can be covered up.In a minor role, Michel Constantin, a stalwart of many French gangster movies, gives one of his best performances here as a fatalistic hired gun; his confrontation with Favenin is a highlight of the film.

wombies Un conde is a very depressing film about a cop who gets tired of crime after a tragic gunfight. The cop starts his personal vendetta that goes far beyond the law.The films imagery is laconic and slow. Many off the scenes are shot with very little light.Acting is very motionless and slow to make the film look sad and depressing. There is no beautiful or happy scenes. Every character in this film have serious problems. I don't know that to whom this kind of films are made for. Only pleasurable thing is that dialogue is in french. The film offers nothing but depressing scenes of violence and mourning. Still it could be worth seeing for if one likes to feel gloomy. Rating: 2/10