The Old Gun (1975)

Sadly Over-hyped

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Someone said this to be the French 'Straw dogs', and so I got interested. There are some similarities, especially the revenge motif, but other than that, 'Le vieux fusil' is quite a unique film on its own.Philippe Noiret is perfect to play the this character, who becomes instantly obsessed with revenge after he finds his wife raped (this is shown in a flashback, but his character can only guess) and burnt alive with a flame thrower, and his daughter shot in the back. His character, Julien, is a respected doctor who tries to go on with his life in spite of the war, even joking about a nurse's sex life and not putting up much of a fight when the enemy comes into his hospital to take some suspects away - what could he do?Well, what he could do, we see later on, but only when his close family is involved. Like a trained soldier, he works out a plan in which he continuously manages to keep the upper hand over the Germans, who at some point are sure they are surrounded by many Partisans - his extensive knowledge of the castle and its architectural secrets being his great advantage.The film switches back and forth between sweet and sour memories of Julien, his wife and his daughter, and the brutal attacks he embarks upon to exact revenge - in the end it becomes clear how much he lost his mind. It did go back and forth a little too much for my taste, but it's still a pretty unique and intense piece of film, immersed in blood, sweat and tears.8 out of 10.

Moving, thrilling, upsetting, The Old Gun is a piece of art with beautiful performances. I love the pace, which adds to the suspense and helps the viewer empathize with the main character, played by Philippe Noiret who slowly becomes the people who he is chasing. Above all, a beautiful love story that take place at the wrong time and the wrong place. If you are interested in movies that star the icon Philippe Noiret, that most people would know from the Italian classic cinema Paradiso, then you should watch some of his earlier work like this French master piece. The scene that really defines this intense movie is when Philippe Noiret kills a German officer from the other side of a mirror. it's an example of how this film is a piece of pure cinema and the dialogue kept to a minimum.

I know a lot of people will disagree,but "le Vieux Fusil" is far from being Enrico's best .The "Dictionnaire des Films " gives no star to it,which is going a bit too far ,but is not thoroughly unjustified.Let's put it straight;Enrico's best are his early efforts :his masterful "Au coeur de la vie" ,the intense beauty of which no review will reveal,"La Belle Vie" ,a courageous plea against the Algerian war,and "les Aventuriers" a much more accessible work with Hustonian accents."Le Vieux Fusil" is admittedly a good movie;nevertheless a 7.9 rating -at my time of writing-is much more than it deserves.First part -although a fiction based on real facts dealing with the martyrs of the end of the Occupation - is the best:Romy Schneider's presence (the fact she was actually a German actress is not a problem) and the harrowing scene of her death are strong assets.But the second part could be described as "Rambo meets Louis Feuillade" .The hero singlehandedly does away with a whole German patrol who's housed in his castle full of two way mirrors,secret passages,oubliettes,etc.It looks like an old Feuillade serial circa 1915 .

The story telling is utterly convincing, and because of the flashback technique, we feel the emotion of the main character (Julien) as the drama unfolds. The suspense is keen and mounting. The viewer keeps asking with increasing intensity: is this what I would do in Julien's position? His mistakes make us groan, his successes make us cheer. His pathos makes us cry.