O Sorriso do Assassino

Gosto do modo como o conceito "Yves Monhand num thriller político" é praticamente um subgénero individual do cinema francês, que oferece uma série de obras muito envolventes e de alta qualidade, entre as quais esta definitivamente pertence. O Sorriso do Assassino é um suspense interessante pela estrutura, alternando algumas exposições relativamente simples que revelam o contexto do crime político, cada uma das quais única, com uma tensão cativante e ao mesmo tempo literalmente muito educativa. O espetador atento vai adivinhar a conclusão decisiva com antecedência, mas isto certamente não diminui a eficácia do filme. (28/11/2021)

The investigation of the JFK assassination without JFK. The apparent similarity, or what Vian says in the opening of the film, that just because it apparently didn’t happen doesn’t mean that it could not have happened that way, is not coincidental. Leaving aside that conspiracy angle on the JFK realities, even purely on its own it's a disturbing, detached procedural thriller par excellence. The most famous passage is the chilling performance of the Milgram experiment; and rightly so. A proven "Verneuil" genre quality that has lost none of its relevance. (22/10/2022)

Although I really like some of his directorial work, I generally have a problem with Henri Verneuil, I usually find his films quite naive with a logic that often takes a holiday. This is the case here, too, unfortunately, and I found the much-praised scientific experiment naive; and the lure of Morricone was absolutely untapped. My attention in this cold, verbose procedural was held only by my favourite Yves Montand, who was never a Belmondo or Delon type star, but his charisma and acting skills were unquestionable (e.g. he was absolutely riveting in The Confession). And the final twist? Well... it didn’t knock me down, but that ending IS impressive. (12/01/2022)