The Grilling (1981)
10/10
"Not in the least suspicious."
29 July 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Aware that I was getting close to giving my 2000th IMDb rating,I started planning on what the rated title would be. At first going for Henri-Georges Clouzot's La Vérité/The Truth,I was disappointed to find the official French DVD to have "broken English" Subtitles. When taking part recently in a poll for the best films of 1981, Garde a vue was at the very top of my "most wanted" list for the year.

Telling a DVD seller this round the time I got the Clouzot,I was thrilled to hear that they had recently tracked down Garde,which has led to it getting my 2000th rating.

View on the film:

Making her penultimate film,Romy Schneider gives a haunting performance as Chantal which reflects the deep troubles Schneider was having in her life,from the interview Chantal has with Gallien being given a washed out mood by Schneider, in expressing the breakdown of the Martinaud's marriage.

Left to do the typing in the interrogation, Guy Marchand gives a cracking performance as Belmont, whose frustrations Marchand makes crackle on screen,as Belmont sees the "murderer" in front of him,but unable to lay a finger on him.

Stamping round the interrogation room, Lino Ventura gives a magnificent performance as Gallien,who is given a calculating tact by Ventura,which shatters from Gallien's passion to bring justice to the murdered girls.

Caught in the hard line the cops take, Michel Serrault digs Martinaud's heels in with an upper-crust self belief,which crumbles as the interrogation unveil the Neo-Noir loss at wits end behind Martinaud businessman façade.

Joined by his wife Annie playing a major role in the flashback scenes, co-writer/(with Jean Herman and Michel Audiard) director Claude Miller & cinematographer Bruno Nuytten sit in on the interrogation with a stylish,pristine appearance wiping any brightness away for dour,white and grey Noir colours.

Keeping all the guys in one room, Miller fires up the claustrophobic anxiety with tightly coiled whip-pans across the confined location,which sweep into hard-nosed close-ups lingering on each vicious exchange.

Taking John Wainwright's book into the station,the writers superbly inter-cut flashbacks to the murder scenes and Martinaud's private life to emphasize the importance of what Gallien and Belmont attempt to uncover.

Taking place against a "stage" setting, the writers keep the Neo- Noir atmosphere fresh with incredibly subtle changes in the dialogue,from everyone trying to get under the skin of each other,to Gallien, Martinaud and Belmont spitting out their frustrations,of all being under suspicion.
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