GUENOT PHILIPPE When it was released in 1982, I considered it was the best french crime flick since the death of Jean Pierre Melville, with maybe the exception of some Alain Corneau's flicks - POLICE PYTHON 357 and LE CHOIX DES ARMES. Don't forget that Corneau was called the heir of Melville...Speaking of Corneau, I consider Series NOIRE as a film noir, instead of a crime feature. Back to LA BALANCE, this film was the last crime movie, at least the best one, made before the rise of Olivier Marchall, twenty years later. Of course, just before LA BALANCE, or at the same time, we had the three Jean Claude Missiean's films: TIR GROUPE, RONDE DE NUIT and LA BASTON, all three efficient programmers, but not at the scale of the Bob Swaim's piece of work. Yes, folks, after LA BALANCE, we had nearly nothing Worth, in the crime film kind. Oh, I admit we received LE COUSIN, also made by Corneau, and the superb J'IRAI AU PARADIS CAR L'ENFER EST ICI. Both from 1997.Yes, LA BALANCE remains a real masterpiece, even after all those years. And no one has mentioned that this was a french movie, made in France by an American director, as was Jules Dassin's RIFIFI CHEZ LES HOMMES, thirty years earlier. And I will finish by announcing that the great Florent Emilio Siri, the director of NID DE GUEPES, HOSTAGE, L'ENNEMI INTIME and CLOCLO will direct the remake of this masterpiece. It will take place in Marseilles. I read his interview. I AM SO EXCITED,, folks !!!!!And we all know that in France, since a couple of years, there was many affairs of rotten cops, lead executives of the force, accused of corrupttion, or too much "friendship" with the mob. And this movie will talk about all this. Boundaries between cops and gangsters. Boundaries as thick as cigarette paper, where every one swims in the very same water. The same swamp. Let's wait for the remake. I already know it will be a real killing.

writers_reign This is one of those realistic polars where you can't tell the cops from the hoods without a scorecard. The premise is simplicity itself; the star balance (informer) of the Belleville district is assassinated in the first minutes leaving the local cops with a vacancy to fill. Their thinking turns to Dede (Leotard) a small time pimp with only one client (Nathalie Baye) who is reluctant to say the least. The name Dede or its female version Dedee is something of a constant in French movies, in 1948, Simone Signoret played Dedee of Anvers (a hooker) for her then husband Yves Allegret, but that's just an aside. Baye and Leotard had been an item in real-life but had broken up by the time the film was shot largely due to Leotard's drink and drugs problem but the genuine affection between them informs every scene they play together. The main thrust of the plot involves Belleville's Mr 'Big' (Maurice Ronet) and his 'enforcer', Belge, a certified ding-dong (or, if you're French, dingue-dong). Shot by Illinois-born Bob Swaim, this is in the finest tradition of the 'polar' with outstanding ensemble acting - and we really should mention multi-talented Richard Berry as Leotard's nemesis - and a great set-piece involving a multi-car pile up and a shoot-out in the street. Definitely one of the all-time great post-war French polars.

cestmoi What a nifty top of the B-film heap is this gritty Paris film, complete with love stories going bad, habits going strong, and cars going fast. Leotard has one of the great faces in the world and Nathalie Baye (in this outing new to me on release date) is just spectacularly vulnerable and perhaps a bit duplicitous. I would definitely make this part of my French film library. The film's co-director is from Evanston, Illinois! Bob Swaim has written films and directed them, mostly in France, and obviously learned his B-films on Saturdays with the rest of us and his France by living in it for a long time.

francodomenico The psychological techniques of the Chief Inspector Palouzi(Richard Berry)and his sometimes cruel, but equally compassionate portrayal of a decent human being, "just doing his job" was quite well done--Hat's off to Bob Swain--Chicago's own! Berry-himself of French-Algerian decent, is very smooth; and his mature attitude--not arrogance--is what pulls him though. The Acting by Nathalie Baye and the late Philippe Leotard was also excellent. Some of the chases and Arrests were Hokey-but, the Overwhelming theme here is the true devotion of a Woman(Baye) to her Man(Leotard). We need more stories about devotion to People, rather than Devotion to careers or even countries-- No displaced loyalties here--Baye's acting was superb, and I am married to a very devoted woman, so I identify with her loyalty to "Dede"!Does anyone Know what Richard Barry(Benguigui) is doing these days? He is a fine actor. Bon Chance to all! Try and see this one, if you haven't already seen it.