We are introduced to Bruno Davert as he is being recognized for his many years of service for a paper manufacturer. Little does Bruno know that soon he will be on the unemployment line because the company has decided to outsource the work to a Rumanian firm. Thus begins the story of a man's sudden descent into a crisis caused by the situation in most of the industrialized nations.
Bruno devises a scheme to eliminate the possible competition that are looking for the same position he is after. For that purpose, he rents a mail box at the post office after he has placed a phony ad asking worthy candidates for the same position he covets. Bruno selects the five men and a manager that will have to be eliminated for his chances to be better. How he will go about it presents a problem: he wants to use an old pistol that belonged to his father in WWII.
Life at home has begun to deteriorate. His loyal wife Marlene has taken part time jobs as a nurse in order to help in a household without steady income. Their married life also suffers because the strain Bruno is going through trying his hand as an assassin. Not content with that, the Daverts find out in the worse way their son has been stealing software programs and faces jail time if found out.
Bruno goes through a killing spree eliminating the competitors. His resolve is almost shattered when he has a chance to meet with one of his would be victims that he has followed to a department store after setting up an interview he doesn't intend to keep with the man. In this unhappy man Bruno sees himself as in a mirror.
As luck would have it, Bruno seems to get away with murder, but does he really? The last scene of the movie offers a puzzle that is left to the viewer to solve.
"Le Couperet", directed by Costa-Gavras, is a black comedy for our times. In it, we are taken to see first hand the indignities anyone has to face when corporations such as the one that employed Bruno Davert decide to take the business some place else, leaving the stranded employees to fend for themselves. The film is an adaptation of Donald Westlake's novel "The Ax". Mr. Westlake's books lend themselves for screen treatments such as the one Mr. Costa-Gavras has given the material. Some commentary to this forum suggests this movie to be a film noir, but to tell the truth, only the one sequence might fall on that category and nothing else. It's rather a black comedy of mystery and suspense in our humble opinion.
The best thing in the film is Jose Garcia, an actor with a face that goes perfectly with his character. Mr. Garcia was a happy choice, as he never disappoints. Karin Viard appears as Marlene a wife at the end of her rope because her world is crashing on her. Ulrich Tukur and the excellent Oliver Gourmet are seen among the accomplished cast doing amazing work for the director.
"Le Couperet" is worth the prize of admission, or the DVD rental.
Bruno devises a scheme to eliminate the possible competition that are looking for the same position he is after. For that purpose, he rents a mail box at the post office after he has placed a phony ad asking worthy candidates for the same position he covets. Bruno selects the five men and a manager that will have to be eliminated for his chances to be better. How he will go about it presents a problem: he wants to use an old pistol that belonged to his father in WWII.
Life at home has begun to deteriorate. His loyal wife Marlene has taken part time jobs as a nurse in order to help in a household without steady income. Their married life also suffers because the strain Bruno is going through trying his hand as an assassin. Not content with that, the Daverts find out in the worse way their son has been stealing software programs and faces jail time if found out.
Bruno goes through a killing spree eliminating the competitors. His resolve is almost shattered when he has a chance to meet with one of his would be victims that he has followed to a department store after setting up an interview he doesn't intend to keep with the man. In this unhappy man Bruno sees himself as in a mirror.
As luck would have it, Bruno seems to get away with murder, but does he really? The last scene of the movie offers a puzzle that is left to the viewer to solve.
"Le Couperet", directed by Costa-Gavras, is a black comedy for our times. In it, we are taken to see first hand the indignities anyone has to face when corporations such as the one that employed Bruno Davert decide to take the business some place else, leaving the stranded employees to fend for themselves. The film is an adaptation of Donald Westlake's novel "The Ax". Mr. Westlake's books lend themselves for screen treatments such as the one Mr. Costa-Gavras has given the material. Some commentary to this forum suggests this movie to be a film noir, but to tell the truth, only the one sequence might fall on that category and nothing else. It's rather a black comedy of mystery and suspense in our humble opinion.
The best thing in the film is Jose Garcia, an actor with a face that goes perfectly with his character. Mr. Garcia was a happy choice, as he never disappoints. Karin Viard appears as Marlene a wife at the end of her rope because her world is crashing on her. Ulrich Tukur and the excellent Oliver Gourmet are seen among the accomplished cast doing amazing work for the director.
"Le Couperet" is worth the prize of admission, or the DVD rental.