L'omicida

I confess I have never read Patricia Highsmith's novel "The Blunderer" and wondered why the film title was rendered as "Le meurtrier" (The Murderer). The correct translation is "Le gaffeur", which is not as commercial as The Murderer although when the film was released to English-speaking audiences it became "Enough rope". Oh well!

The important thing is that we are talking about an excellent film dynamically directed by Claude Autant-Lara, featuring Jacques Natteau´s creative cinematography and magnificent performances by a very special cast. I am not going to comment on the suspenseful plot since other reviewers have done so very well; however the only fault I found on this rare film is how Mark (Maurice Ronet) makes the connection that it was Kimmel (Gert Fröbe) who murdered his own wife and starts stalking him. Why? Maybe I missed something since the copy I saw was in German with a lousy English translation in subtitles. Pity! I really wish for "Le meurtrier" to be released in DVD, or better yet on Blu-ray, in its original French with lots of extras.

If I sound excited about this film is because I really am, and wish that many people will be able to experience it the way it was conceived by Mr. Autant-Lara.