Reviews

While making "The Defector", the director obviously went out of his way to produce a decent contemporary spy movie, containing an intricate plot, suspenseful action, beautiful scenery (lots of nice German locations – both city and countryside – and characteristic locals), tin loads of extras and an unexpected ending. Up to a point, he succeeded in his mission. The movie is certainly enjoyable enough to watch. Unfortunately there are also some drawbacks causing it not to exceed the level of decent mediocrity. I suppose the problem is in the direction, for the leading actors are top-quality performers and the plot and scene setting are lifelike enough. In my experience, the dialogues are very clear – so clear, in fact, that they tend to lose the sort of grim realism and shadiness that might have added to the overall mood expected from this movie genre. The scenes are framed in such a way the viewer is in no doubt what is going on, but is not sucked in at the same time. From what we see, we understand it's all very serious business, but it just doesn't feel that way. The mental torture session in the specially prepared hotel room is gruesome, but it does not send shivers up our spines. The same thing goes for some other scenes in which Bower (Clift) is grilled by the Stasi. The slight caricature qualities of some of the additional characters (uniformed guards, labourers, Frieda Hoffman's (Macha Méril) flat mates) plus the occasionally corny traditional music are not helpful in this respect (the alienating sci-fi music in the torture scene is different – I suppose this was composed by Serge Gainsbourg – the rest seems miles away from his style). I do appreciate the ending of "The Defector", which leaves room for speculation (= did this happen by accident or on purpose?), but again, I was not as much in awe as I felt I should have been. In short, "The Defector" meets the mark, but could have done without a certain degree of directional awkwardness.

Watching this film, I repeatedly failed to shake off the "who cares?" feeling. "Le tueur" miserably fails to deliver. It is not entirely unwatchable, but this is mainly due to the presence of highly-acclaimed legends such as Gabin and Blier, who wasted their talents here majorly. The story is flimsy: dangerous criminal breaks out deviously, hides from the police with the help of old mates hoping for an escape abroad (with a girl he picked up on the way) – he keeps one step ahead of the cops all the time, partly due to his ruthlessness, until the police begin to attempt using equally cunning methods. The ending is predictably abrupt, yet lacks the ingenious elegance one is hoping for. This movie has no redeeming features such as artistic photography (though I did like the geographical locations) or striking mood-enhancing music. The characters all remain very flat. We don't take to the killer (for the obvious fact he is a ruthless killer), not even when he unconvincingly starts developing warm feelings for Gerda (Uschi Glas). Strangely enough, he is not even a convincing psycho, looking much too nice to be one. All we are left with are the apparent differences between Le Guen (Gabin) and Tellier (Blier) and the way the police are plodding to get results. And even all that is not too impressive.

If one should value a film like "Le transfuge" for anything, it's for that extremely high level of down-to-earth, everyday realism that (French) cinema seems to have lost somewhere in the mid-eighties, when the pictures on the screen turned more smooth and stylized, reaching its peak during the present day. The opening scene makes this very clear: the images of the airport with the shrill sound of the plane engines and the routine of the luggage being thrown onto the conveyor belts are so realistic it's almost like watching a documentary. The theme of the movie itself gave me similar feelings, by the way. The goings-on of just some business man and the secret service are presented in such a matter-of-fact way you almost forget you're watching a work of fiction. The explanatory text appearing on the screen between scenes from time to time endorses the viewer's sentiments in this department. Being of a similar theme as for instance "Das Leben der Anderen", "Le transfuge" is of some value as a history lesson to those who have never lived through the times of the old East-West animosity. We get a good insight into the political situation in the DDR, the sentiments of its population, as well as the peculiar and oftentimes sordid methods of the authorities. Watch and learn would be a befitting message to accompany this movie. The downside of realism in movies could be the sacrifice it potentially makes to the entertainment value. I must admit I found the story to develop rather tamely during the first hour. There are only a few proper action scenes in "Le transfuge", which adds to the realism, but not to the excitement factor. Fortunately, the long-desired twist in the plot occurred during the last 30 minutes, which pleased me greatly for two reasons: it made the film more intriguing AND even more realistic at the same time. It's this twist that persuaded me to rate the film 7/10 instead of a meagre 6/10.