The Secret

Abolish the machine!

The classic slogan that still works.

A Deleuezian concept on machine and its surveillance emerges at final seconds. We've upgraded it to a so called matrix. This slow paced drama is about nothing and everything. Timeless and placeless story. Still works. Great performances and a heart catching score by maestro Morricone.

A melancholic journey to deep desperation.

What a delightfully simple suspense film! From the opening scene in a "prison hospital" to a ride up an elevator to a small home in the country this Kafka-esqe story will grip you. I'm surprised this film has not been released on DVD considering it stars Jean-Louis Trintignant.

I saw this film on TV over 20 years ago. CBS offered a--sadly short-lived--cable channel that offered truly quality films. When I happened to catch Le Secret (probably 1982) I was stunned that I had never heard of it and had no memory of its release in the U.S. eight years earlier. Like Hitchock? Yes, but not completely.

Want to see a movie that leaves you uneasy, paranoid, makes you question the reality you're presented with? Scared to go out and scared to stay in? But at all cost, distracts you from mundane reality? This is one film that does that. Forget movies that rely on lavish helpings of gore and blood, gratuitous violence, habitual screaming and endless repetition of expletives. That's not scary any more. It was only ever shocking, really, and nowadays people seem to have become used to that. No, this is a French film. No clichéd devices such as explosions of discordant noise to startle you when you least expect it. Instead, something excruciatingly sinister somehow manages to silently creep out from this film, like a miasma. A chilling, clammy, atmosphere that's reinforced by subtle but compelling acting and directing. Did you hear a noise just then . . .?

I've seen this film only a few times over the years as an adult, but I was still left disturbed by it each time. I didn't exactly 'have to leave the light on' when I went to bed afterwards. But, let's say, it left a permanent impression on me. It's the way it's executed, you see. I'm too macho to admit to anything more. For connoisseurs of effective films of this genre, this is a must for the collection. You'll end up looking over your shoulder after seeing this film. Unless, of course, they come for you too . . . .

The rude nature of the South West of France alongside the plot of the movie where three well known french actors give the best of themselves in a story that is taken of reality of those years of the 70's. Sublime shots and dialogues, good acting work, a movie that has no need to any Hollywood action and big budgets in order to entertain. If you like France and its mentality, then this movie is for you.

Low key but very well written drama, about a strange man (Trintignant) who is pretending to be pursued by the police and the army, because he knows a very dangerous secret. He met a couple (Jobert and always wonderful Noiret) and hide at their home. Noiret thinks that the man is very kind and decides to help him to go to Spain, where he will be safe. But the press tells that this man is a very dangerous psycho killer. The woman begins to have doubts about the man. This is a very seventies movie, with sometimes a lack of direction, but it's sure an intelligent movie. Spectators will know the famous secret at the very end of the movie. And it's a very surprising finale. By the way, whatever happen to the lovely Marlene Jobert?