La liberté surveillée

A French-Czechoslovakian production,in every sense of the term:two directors,the leads are French but the supporting cast features many Czechs ,all speaking their language,which displays respect for the audience.Filmed on location in Eastern Europan,the landscapes are very nice ,with a good use of color and of the wide screen -which was rare in the French fifties.One should also add that Marina Vlady was of Russian descent and Hossein himself was born in Ukrainia ,although the actor plays a French guy in the movie.

The first pictures show Hossein with the police hot on his heels .But,and that's the main originality of the screenplay,we only learn why in the very last scene.The rest of the movie is not really a thriller.The impostor subject does not really interest the writers who depict some time in Czechoslovakia : a race -Hossein replaces the team's masseur: there's a funny scene when Hossein is taught his job by an aging René Lefèvre -,then a holiday on a peaceful river ,complete with country fair,campfires,songs,and of course a love affair between Hossein and Vlady (but she already has a native wooer)."River movie" best depicts this unusual movie ,which has nothing (or almost nothing ) to do with the gangsters flick which were thriving in the French fifties.