Die Axt

I've seen "Le Couperet" and it impressed me.

There is a lot of suspense.

And influence from Alfred Hitchcock movies.

Costa-Gavras himself came to my country (Brazil) to give a lecture and answered questions about cinema and his movies in March 29, 2005.

He talked about how he started making movies and the French movies.

In his opinion, France is a good place to make movies because the government helps filmmakers and there is at least 150 movies made every year.

In March 31, an avant-premiere of "Le Couperet" took place in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.

It was great to see this movie having Costa-Gavras present.

Amazing.

Bruno DAVERT (Jose Garcia) is locked-out for economic reasons. To find a new job, his method is simple : kill the other candidates. His behaviour changes, and his wife Marlène(Karin Viard) feels Bruno moving away from the family, from herself and from the true life.

Costa-Gavras shows as the unemployment can make a man crazy.

A perfect look on the stupidity of our society when a man is only the money he can earn. Costa-Gavras show us the vacuum we are running to, destroying everything to obtain what ?

Probably the best political movie of the ten last years. Garcia is excellent, probably because he does not know he his good. K. Viard change her usual energy in distress, her performance is excellent. Everybody is good.

Run to this movie. It shows you your future

People who characterize this film as a comedy obviously haven't got it. The comic element is just a thin surface. This is a tragic story and a very strong political statement. Obviously Bruno's decisions and actions are absurd, but his circumstances are not. The movie offers an incisive look at the dark reality of chronic unemployment. Corporate greed leads to story after story after story of desperation. Westlake and Gavras know that in order to pass the message you have to lighten up the atmosphere (a la Truman Show), or else the viewer won't sit the whole movie. In order to appreciate the film you have to marginalize the main plot element (the murder story) and concentrate on all the subplots.

The thirty-nine years old executive Bruno Davert (José Garcia) has been working for fifteen years in a paper company. After a merging operation with a Romania's company, he is fired in a downsizing. While unemployed for two years, Bruno loses his self-esteem and sanity and his family loses the middle-class lifestyle without cable television, Internet and regular consumption. He concludes that there is too much competition in his sector for a few job positions and decides to literally eliminate his competitors, killing those more qualified than him.

"Le Couperet" is a sarcastic view of the greed of the companies and the effects of downsizing in the self-esteem and sanity of a man. The awareness of the economical situation in France (but could be in most of the nations) and black-humor of Costas-Gravas gives a fantastic satire to the greed of the corporations, aiming exclusively profits without any care for the human beings. The sub-employment, as means of survival; the exacerbated use of merchandising to force the consumption; the situation of the family, being emotionally shattered with the stressful situation of the husband and father; all of these elements are ironically presented in this tough and realistic social satire through a French middle-class family. José Garcia is stunning in the role of a bitter man fighting to find job position and serial killer. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "O Corte" ("The Cut")

Many years ago there was a film starring Alec Guinness called "Kind Hearts and Coronets", which took the case that a member of a wealthy family murders off his relatives to inherit the estate. "Le Couperet" offers a similar plot, although this time a disgruntled unemployed engineer becomes an inept assassin to remove his competitors for a top job with often-hilarious consequences.

In this very dark comedy Jose Garcia does well as the bumbling killer, at times reminiscent of a young Jack Lemmon, and there are many surprises along the way. The film does highlight more sincerely than you may expect the plight of middle-aged professionals that are retrenched, and find it difficult to obtain positions in the current climate. Many watching the movie might well relate to its characters and their plight.

Excellent sequences include the job interview, which has more than a ring of truth, the discussions about unemployment and its social consequences by the discouraged out-of-work executives, and the scenes with the marriage counselor. Despite its black humour, there is a very human side to this film. Costa-Gavras is an exceptional filmmaker, with experience that shows in the smooth integration of the hilarious with an undertow of real pathos. The story ends on a suitably enigmatic note.