German-French prison crime film with Hardy Krüger
This small but fine film by Alain Brunet is tailored entirely to its leading actor, the great Hardy Krüger. Here he plays a professional burglar who this time is innocently imprisoned in a prison in Marseille. The loner guy longs for his little daughter, whom he had to leave behind with friends. This Eric Lambrecht would give anything to be able to break out of the hated prison. The offer from a guard comes in handy. If Lambrecht takes over a break for him, something could happen with the towers...
The story of the prison and the escape is by no means retold here, but it is very exciting. The break-in after the escape is particularly well staged. The film lives from its appropriate atmosphere and the good actors. In addition to GOLDEN GLOBE nominee Hardy Krüger, who carries the film almost single-handedly, Raymond Pellegrin and Jean Lefebvre deserve special mention.
Hardy Krüger shot an election commercial for Willy Brandt on the prison set of this film in the fall of 1972. In December the legendary "Willy election" was to take place in the 1972 federal election, in which Brandt was confirmed as Federal Chancellor. This little episode can also be seen in the worthwhile documentary "The Hardy-Krüger Story", which was recently shown on the German-French television channel ARTE.
