Dossier 51

The book is excellent, I read it twice and was very thrilled by its originality. As for the movie, I only watched half of it, and quit just in time before falling asleep.

This political thriller is directed by a comedy drama specialist, an excellent specialist of comedies of manners made in France. For such a film maker, this is a tour de force, believe me. We think here of Yves Boisset, Coasta Gavras for the French or Alan Pakula - PARALLAX VIEW - or Sidney Lumet for the American influence. This is a terrific piece of work, intriguing, disturbing, that also could remind Francis Coppola's THE CONVERSATION. The story telling, with those off voices is absolutely unique, outstanding, but will puzzle many of viewers. Not for all audiences, but an unforgettable and unavoidable film.

I saw 'Dossier 52' few years ago in Kyiv during French film festival. It represented the 70-th years of French ñinematography. I was impressed a lot. Everything - the way of shooting, the plot - was unusual. I was impressed how person was destroyed. But nobody from my friends as from Ukraine as from other countries never heard about it. It's strange because the 'Dossier' is one of the greatest movies about secret services and there terrible methods. I never saw any film on this subject. This film has no romantic and heroic aureole about them. And I recommend to everybody to watch 'Dossier' - it is useful for understanding the reality of our world. And also it is an interesting work of art representing period of the 70-80-th years.

I saw this film on my university campus when it came out in the late 70s. For the time, it was a technical landmark, entirely shot from a subjective camera POV (For an example of a failure of this technique, see the 1946 adaptation of Raymond Chandler's LADY IN THE LAKE). I loved the film, not just for its technical bravura, but for its disturbing tone and intriguing narrative. I don't want to give anything away, but I just loved the way these amoral, aethical bastards seemed to love the work they did. And the film seems impossible to find! How films like this one escape critical acclaim is beyond me - I met Roger Ebert at a film festival in Virginia back in 2000 and stumped him on this one, even though I wasn't trying to. DEFINITELY check Dossier 51 out if you're a fan of thought-provoking films!

This movie pioneers techniques - the pseudo-documentary, the POV camera, the relentless naturalism - that have since been adopted by thriller directors around the world. If you have a chance to see this undiscovered gem, don't pass it up. The plot concerns an attempt to blackmail a diplomat. There are a variety of characters, including everyone from the irascible supervisor of the agents in question to a low-level agent who does undercover work so she can buy the latest kitchen appliances. It features scenes which have since been copied to death - the agent rehearsing lines and mannerisms with the team, the display board covered with photos and the like. The ending of the movie is particularly grueling in its matter-of-fact simplicity and machine-like, remorseless logic. Way ahead of its time, this film deserves a lot more attention than it has gotten.