Le prix du danger

Even though the version I saw on video was dubbed, this is still a really well-made and relevant film about violence and the media. "The Running Man" with Arnold Schwarzenegger is a big pile of s--t compared to this film. (I wonder if Steven King ripped off the Robert Sheckley novel that this movie's based on for his 'Bachman' book.) One of the guys hunting down the hero is played by the butcher from "Delicatessen"; he gets his in a particularly nasty fashion (recalling F.Murray Abraham's demise in "The Name of the Rose"). The video is out of print (Lightning), but if you can track it down it's well worth the time and effort.

When the power of a TV camera is considered to be immense, what would happen if all of a sudden numerous TV cameras are employed to cover an event from all possible angles ? This is the most fundamental question which any viewer might be compelled to ask while watching "Le Prix Du Danger". This Yves Boisset film questions the role of TV especially the notion which accuses TV of legitimizing senseless violence in the name of entertainment. The role of violence and its impact on human lives has also been discussed in this film. A man is the worst enemy of another man in all spheres where money is involved. This assertion seems to be true as a lucky contestant has to beat killers hell bent on killing him. There are huge financial rewards to be obtained if the contestant is able to escape unhurt in a deadly game of life and death. One might say that poverty drives some reckless souls to sacrifice their lives for money. It is also interesting to learn about the reasons which drive ordinary people to become killers. With excellent performances by all leading actors namely Michel Piccoli, Marie France Pisier, Gérard Lanvin and Bruno Cremer, "Le Prix Du Danger" is an important film with concern for existential problems which have always troubled humanity. It is directed by Yves Boisset who has helmed many thrillers in France.

Honestly, although I am a great fan of Yves Boisset's work, filmography, I have never understood why he claimed so loudly that this movie, inspired from a Robert Scheckley's book - written in 1958 - was stolen in terms of script by Paul Michael Glaser's RUNNING MAN (1987), itself inspired by a Stephen King's book - written in 1982. Both are different but very very close stories; very similar. And Robert Scheckley and Stephen King were also rather close concerning the topics they talked about. This Yves Boisset's movie is a violent attack against today modern society, hypocrisy of the world company towards common folks, a violent and brutal depiction of another "Raison d'Etat", which main purpose is to manipulate, use people as simple tools to achieve the huge firms greedy goals. Science fiction, dystopia genre perfectly used by an Yves Boisset in great shape.

Robert Sheckley is a great sci-fi writer whose short stories are witty and absorbing.Yves Boisset was definitely not the kind of director who could do him justice.

Yves Boisset could succeed in treating committed subjects (the Algeria war in "RAS" or racism in "Dupont -Lajoie".But in "le Prix du Danger" ,he's shooting us a line!The lead is an unambitious actor,Gérard Lanvin,who has made turkeys by the dozen (only "une Semaine de Vacances" and "Une étrange Affaire" are above average in his filmography)He is here no more than Van Damme and co.Michel Piccoli and Marie-France Pisier are supposed to provide the movie with an intellectual alibi,but their cardboard characters and their underwritten parts do not help.

A faux pas: there were many of them in Boisset's eighties' career.

The Running Man, a book originally written by Stephen King, under a pseudonym 'Richard Bachman', has achieved some cult standing thanks to the 1987 action packed Schwarzenegger bicep flexer. Its easy to place Prize of Peril within the 'rip-off' category, as it's not uncommon to see 80's European cinema re-create their own low budget exploitation takes on Hollywoods big hitters. But to do that with Prize would be a mistake, as this was released in 1984, three years BEFORE the chainsaw wielding, ice skating fireball that is the Running Man we all know.

Although cast mainly with Italian actors, Prize was actually directed by Frenchman Yves Boisset and shot on location in France and the former Yugoslavia. Although not actually credited to be an adaptation of the original novella by Stephen King, it's difficult to believe that his work was not in some way an inspiration for the movie.

The plot, set in the future, tells of a game show where the contestants are witted out against a team of trained bounty hunters who are set out to dispose of them for the blood thirsty TV audiences that watch the show religiously. The aim for the contestants is to reach the finish line, alive! Our hero, unlike his predecessors, turns the fight on the bounty hunters! Much to the shock and dismay of the audience.

The pace of the movie is well set, action mixed with intrigue keeps you watching, and you quickly feel admiration for the struggling hero (played by Gerard Lanvin), as he blunders his way through everything that's thrown at him. A far more interesting character is portrayed by Lanvin than we witness with Arnie's character in the 1987 film 'The Running Man'. The overtones of the movie are more sinister and the comment on society stronger than the American attempt, although the budget is hardly comparable. Sadly this is illustrated most obviously, by the distinct lack of imagination for set design. Unless we are supposed to believe this is set in the near future, then the overwhelming 1980's look the movie has throughout is definitely a negative.

However the budget should not be a deterrence, to what is, in whole, a very watchable and well made film. Not as glamorised nor as violent as 'The Running Man' but overall a more educated and engrossing movie. Still has its flaws, but its worth a watch.