Robert Enrico's 1974 "Le Secret" was obviously supposed to be one of those paranoid thrillers from the seventies and the marvel is at how simply it was done. In that sense you can say it was very well done. But to look at it more carefully, up against other more complex paranoid thrillers, the person who is "it"" must have a clearly, for our sake as the world/society will ultimately benefit without Intelligence making up our minds for us that an incredibly life changing "secret" can not be revealed and all who know it or possibly could stumbled upon its being able to shed light on our perspectives, other than what Intelligence wants us to be kept in the dark about, the person on the run should know where to take the secret for the best possible chances of it doing any good. In Robert Enrico's film, that avenue is not explored, and the film becomes a rather ordinary TV movie of the week with fine actors like Jean-Louis Trintignant as "David" (our agent); Marlene Jobert as "Julia" (the woman) (in a fine performance once again) and Phillip Noiret (as her husband "Thomas," friend of mankind and understanding and trusting of the agent as mankind should). Written by Robert Enrico (who previously directed the very fine "The Adventuriers" (1970)) with Pascal Jardin (dialogue) and from the novel "Le Compagnon Indesirable" by Francis Ryck, with Etienne Becker as director of photography and Ennio Morricone providing the score, the film is still rather devastating. In the day of the complex paranoid thriller, the simplicities of "Le Secret" are likely to be forgotten, and that, too, is sad.
Review of The Secret
