vostf I am amazed Le Secret only gets very good reviews here. I personally lost 94 minutes watching this, although I was already aware that Enrico was a mediocre director who happened to get fine scripts he could not really mess with.The big failure in the secret is that it's definitely not a tense psychological thriller. Enrico has clearly no idea about how to create the appropriate atmosphere. David, the fugitive (Trintignant) doesn't really know what he wants to do, where he wants to go. That's already a bad start. Speaking of action, he happens to stay with Thomas and Julia (Noiret and Jobert): more passivity leading us further into a would-be story. To cap it all this passive fugitive with no inner will, no goal, is not presented as particularly ambiguous or manipulative. So much for the story.Enrico doesn't direct, he just let the three leads perform their roles. Morricone's score hardly nears those de Roubaix composed for his friend Enrico, but well, this is far from an inspiring story.Actually the opening credits sequence was very good, but right from the evasion there is simply no style or tension, nor whatever angle you are supposed to chose to tell a specific story. The last image is good too, but frankly, having some cheap political statement at the end of a bad overlong exposé is just painfully ridiculous.

audresonmichael It's not that well known when great french films are discussed but this is a wonderful film, cunningly written and directed so that our expectations are constantly being changed. It works then as an entertainment but it has one of the greatest endings of any film. There's no way of describing it that won't spoil it. There's a time and a place for SPOILERS but there's nothing to be gained by putting them here. The end conveys love as well as anything I've ever seen. Not the joys of a quick affair but the sense that two people have been in a relationship which has matured over many years. Very special and well acted by the three leads.

atenxm1 Want to see a movie that leaves you uneasy, paranoid, makes you question the reality you're presented with? Scared to go out and scared to stay in? But at all cost, distracts you from mundane reality? This is one film that does that. Forget movies that rely on lavish helpings of gore and blood, gratuitous violence, habitual screaming and endless repetition of expletives. That's not scary any more. It was only ever shocking, really, and nowadays people seem to have become used to that. No, this is a French film. No clichéd devices such as explosions of discordant noise to startle you when you least expect it. Instead, something excruciatingly sinister somehow manages to silently creep out from this film, like a miasma. A chilling, clammy, atmosphere that's reinforced by subtle but compelling acting and directing. Did you hear a noise just then . . .?I've seen this film only a few times over the years as an adult, but I was still left disturbed by it each time. I didn't exactly 'have to leave the light on' when I went to bed afterwards. But, let's say, it left a permanent impression on me. It's the way it's executed, you see. I'm too macho to admit to anything more. For connoisseurs of effective films of this genre, this is a must for the collection. You'll end up looking over your shoulder after seeing this film. Unless, of course, they come for you too . . . .

Klaas-2 Under mysterious circumstances a strange guy (well played by Trintignant) escapes from some underground asylum. He finds refuge with a couple of fringe people of 68 who seemed to have retired to a tranquil life somwhere in the south of France. The strange visitor revives old dreams and memories and represents new opportunities to make something more out of life. The couple, superbly played by Philippe Noiret and Marlène Jobert, have each their own reasons to be interested and intrigued by the visitor. After a series of sometimes menacing, sometimes hylarious events, always impregnated with a subdued tension, the movie ends somewhere in the emptiness of some isolated beach.This is a very good movie. The images and the playing show a lot but also leave a lot to be guessed by the watcher. It makes a point (about Big Brother who is watching you) and is mysterious enough to remain full of tension.