The Passengers (1977)

Sadly Over-hyped

Really Surprised!

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Trintignant is always a pleasure to watch, certainly one the best actors French cinema ever produced, so I was very interested to see LES PASSAGERS (1977), which ran in English-speaking countries with a dubbed version entitled THE INTRUDER. I guess the latter was Bernard Fresson, who is also very good in his part as a psychopathic killer, who has apparently had a relationship with Mireille Darc, recently married to Trintignant, who is returning home in the company of her son (his stepson, therefore).Is Fresson the young boy's father? The film does not explain that point. What is clear is that Fresson and Darc were lovers in the past. In his schizophrenia, Fresson thinks he is having a conversation with Darc is in his Ford truck as he pursues and then attacks Trintignant and stepson in their little Renault (great publicity for the elastique, fantastique model of 1976, which probably paid for the picture).The chase sequences are well done but I was not convinced that Trintignant's character was so poor that he could not buy a second hand vehicle, instead of driving some 300 miles with a child in the night without a front windscreen in very cold winter conditions, and in a clearly unsafe vehicle after being so badly bashed about.Although Adolfo Celi is OK in his role as Italian police chief, he seems easily sidetracked by irrelevant considerations, such as whether Trintignant's character was an extreme rightwinger, or member of OAS, to determine why he is being chased by someone he never met before. Celi is also much too easily convinced that the attacker was killed in a vehicle accident.But if Italian police officers generally look unfit for their profession, their French counterparts win hands down in terms of sheer stupidity and lack of professionalism, and Fresson beats Trintignant to Darc, possibly forces intercourse (Trintignant does not seem to get to know about it), and then there is a shootout, and, finally, the main concern is where the kid has disappeared to.It is a pity that the ending is so wayward and unbelievable, because for about three quarters, LES PASSAGERS is quite engrossing in spite of some credibility holes.Direction is not particularly inspired and seems to borrow from Steven Spielberg's DUEL (1971), the difference being that the pursuing vehicle is driven by a deranged human, whereas in DUEL for a long time it seems that the truck has a murderous will of its own, and yu never get to see more than the human.driver's arm.LES PASSAGERS' cinematography is good in parts, especially the chase sequences, and unremarkable in others.Trintignant and Fresson are definitely the film's greatest assets and well worth watching.

I remember watching this film, titled as "The Intruder," in, about 1987, after taping it off a local Sacramento TV station late at night. I recall that it was a well-made suspense film. Before IMDb existed, I looked for mention of this movie in film reference books, but to no avail. I'm surprised to learn it was based on a Dean Koontz novel. I think the tape may still be at my parent's house! I only have a vague recollection of the plot but I will continue writing as I just learned of the 10 line minimum for IMDb (I guess brevity is not the soul of movie commenting). I remember being impressed with the economy of the storytelling - in this way, and because it takes place on the road, it reminded me of Spielberg's "Duel," and in retrospect, this movie was surely influenced by "Duel." Anyway, it was good stuff, and hopefully I'll be able to find the movie and re-watch it. Cheers!

This top notch suspense film features the always excellent Jean-Louis Trintignant as Alex, the new husband of divorcée Nicolle (Mireille Darc). He's taken a trip to Italy to pick up his newly adopted son Marc (Richard Constantini) from boarding school for a long road trip home to Paris. As the two begin the trek north, they notice they're being followed by a black paneled van piloted by Fabio (Hiroshima Mon Amour's Bernard Fresson), Nicolle's disturbed former hubby who is desperate to reunite the family--whatever it takes. Les Passagers (released in the United States as The Intruder) may not be the most original of thrillers, but it is expertly made, features excellent stunt driving, and will keep viewers on the edge of their seats.Long unavailable on home video, it's a film crying out for rediscovery via DVD. If you can find a copy on tape, Vidmark's old video master is tolerable, with unobtrusive pan and scan framing and decent dubbing.