La rançon d'une vie

This film is very intelligently made and , in fact , has the journalistic flavour of a documentary . The opening scenes illustrate a very close knit and warm, affectionate family atmosphere, of people who privately and publicly, show themselves to be the same loyal, honest, open and generous individuals, no matter what happens to them, in life. They are strong characters. Suddenly, they are being tested by violent criminals who are demons of greed and brutality . . . more like vicious animals than human beings . . . We learn that even this type of criminal, though cruel, has a pattern of methods, because of the constant M O of their violence. The actors are really skillfull and convincing. The story has sharp lines and though painful and agonising to empathise with the situation, keeps one guessing to the end. It is original and has been based on the truth. True life stories, have the characteristic of genuineness, especially, when the script is good and the performance by the actors is good.