Lupercali Terrence Stamp - one of those very good actors who frequently and inexplicably appears in rotten movies - is terrific in this rather odd film about rape, suicide, love, revenge and literary forgery. I'm not going to go into great detail about the storyline, because in my view the person who wrote the current front-page review did as good a job as I could do. Suffice to say that for a thriller about aforementioned topics, this is a curiously dispassionate film - mostly because of Stamp's often almost emotionless performance as the vengeful ex-lover. Clearly there is a smouldering fury below the surface, but Stamp keeps it so screwed down that he seems more like a secret agent dispassionately doing his job. An odd effect, but not off-putting.There is nothing remarkable about the other performances or the production. For a European film it plays more like an episode of Inspector Morse, minus any excess of emotion, except the increasingly desperate histrionics of Stamp's 'victim', which play off well against Stamp's stoic performance.6.5 out of 10. Certainly worth a look, though don't expect it to change your life.

expandata This movie should be displayed in all the movie schools... How to create a maximum of drama intensity, with no blood, and a minimum of movie budget (that means, the opposite of most recent (US) movies...). A first movie, but a real masterpiece. A smart movie for smart spectators, and that's nice.

Agy The scenario is simply amazing. Revenge is the mobile; a book as the weapon. Great also because it is the very first movie shot by Bernard RAPP (former French TV journalist).

Pat-60 I came across this movie completely by accident, and I was amazed by its willingness to take its time and tell an involving, intelligent story. In a sense, it is really an adaption of Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo, though more subtle in both its set-up and its moral considerations. An ordinary man, long ago irreparably wounded, finds himself in an extraordinary situation. He works to exact revenge in a calculated fashion; the viewer is left to question what his actions mean and how the man should be judged.