The Old Gun

The Allies are closing in on their small town, but not quite quickly enough for the liking of local surgeon "Dandieu" (Philippe Noiret) so he relocates his wife and daughter to their remote castle, well off the beaten track, in the hope that they can sit out the rest of the war safely. When he takes a drive out to see them some time after, he arrives at it's small chapel to be met by a vision of carnage. Racing to the castle, he gets there just in time to see the brutality of the Nazis at their worst and immediately vows revenge. Just how, though, can this civilised old gent possibly inflict any sort of vengeance on this well armed troop? Well, for a start he has an old shotgun that had been carefully hidden amidst the tunnels beneath the building. Then there are these particularly useful tunnels themselves; there's a secret passageway up into the salon and finally, he's an ingenious chap who considers that he now has very little left to lose. Fuelled by some intermittent reminiscences of life with his wife (Romy Schneider) and nimble on his feet, Noiret now proceeds to present us with an almost entertaining rabbit-shoot of a scenario before a denouement that is entirely fitting and yet touching, too. There's not a great deal of dialogue: the imagery does enough of the speaking, and the whole scenario paints quite a potent picture of the dangers faced by many decent people whose lives were terrorised by these brutes during WWII. It also touches, slightly, on the psychological effects of what he witnessed and their aftermath: his sense of purpose serving to divert his realisation of just what had happened long enough to get the job done. Schneider doesn't feature so often, but when she does she not only lights up the production but her character's brief appearances emphasise just how ghastly and inhumane their occupiers really were, and that presence is also well epitomised by Joachim Hansen's SS officer. Some attention has gone into the look of the film and with a Noiret very much on-form, it's well worth a watch.

> This is where we may wonder why it has taken so much to rouse this peaceful man;

Everybody has his own threshold of awakening; and this film is actually the story of awakening - this is why the whole first part showing his peaceful life, even during the war, up until he is led to his threshold, and so the contrast between that and merciful killer that he becomes, becomes even more powerful.

> The next question we find ourselves asking is why he is content to go up against men armed with pistols, rifles,machine guns, grenades and flame-throwers with only a shotgun rather than picking off one man and appropriating his weaponry.

The best weapon is the weapon you are used to, the weapon you trust. Plus, this old gun together with the old castle and their old owner, become one collective weapon against the invaders. Not wise to take one piece out.

Raw, tragic, and incredibly poetic, a direct blow to the heart. A low-budget film that masterfully plays all the best cinematic cards and reaches a supremely lyrical level. A masterful performance by an exceptional cast, portraying well-constructed roles and using montages built through continuous flashbacks that skillfully blend highly dramatic moments with poetic ones. Memory, recollection, personal experiences of an ordinary citizen who takes revenge into his own hands.

The protagonist, far from being painted as a heroic and superhuman Rambo (Stallone's "Rambo" film would come only 8 years later, undoubtedly drawing from this), is an everyday man in an extraordinary situation overwhelmed by events.

A microhistory, like many untold ones, that reminds us of the horrors of wars and the power of love that can overcome even in a tragic way. A tragicomedy, like Greek tragedies can be, with an ending that is not happy but somehow comforting. It makes us love the character in all his tragicness and it makes us accompany him, on the dark side of revenge.

The story telling is utterly convincing, and because of the flashback technique, we feel the emotion of the main character (Julien) as the drama unfolds. The suspense is keen and mounting. The viewer keeps asking with increasing intensity: is this what I would do in Julien's position? His mistakes make us groan, his successes make us cheer. His pathos makes us cry.

Sadly the reviewer did not watch properly the movie : 1. Noiret/Dandieu does not arrive "just in time" to see his family killed : he imagineswhat has happened (perhaps one or two days before; unclear).

2. The girl is his daughter; not Romy/Clara's I did not plan to write more but I am forced to write at least 1O lines (silly rule).

This is a movie I first saw when I was 12 or 13.

It made a lasting impression on me.

I love its pace, the acting (Noiret in particular), Romy's beauty, charm and accent.

And the music by François de Roubaix.