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After driving into the Italian Crime-style madness of Armaguedon,I started looking for another title starring Alain Delon that I could give to a friend as an Easter present. Keen on picking up something more serious than Armaguedon,I was pleased to find out from a DVD seller that they had recently tracked down a unique-sounding Delon Thriller,which led to me soon trying to keep up with Delon.
The plot:
Becoming known in the world of the elite as the man who can locate any item he desires, Pierre Niox sets his eyes and hands on getting the rarest antiques in the world. Taking his wife Edwige along to experience the jet-set lifestyle,Edwige finds her patients to be tested,by Niox pushing them to go across the world to get a new item before their feet have touched the ground. Revealing that she is pregnant with his child,Edwige starts to notice Niox becoming annoyed at her getting in the way of his true love: antiques hunting.
View on the film:
Moving Paul Morand's 1940's written novel into the end of the 70's,director Édouard Molinaro dips the pages into jet-set decadence,via stylish whip-pans gliding on the chic antiques Niox surrounds himself with. Whilst using Niox's obsession to give the title a glossy appearance,Molinaro digs into Niox via his impatient for Edwige's baby,which unveils the less than pristine side of his personality. Filling Niox's hands with every valuable that catches his eyes,the screenplay by Maurice Rheims & Christopher Frank ruthlessly dissect Niox's uncontrolled love of material items,that reach an absurdist level when Niox begins treating Edwige's pregnancy like an auction.
Staying close to the shallowness of Niox's life,the writers make the shots at Melodrama ones that run dry,due to all the characters having been kept at a skin deep level. Traveling round the world with his then- eye-catching girlfriend Mireille Darc as Edwige, Alain Delon gives a great, dashing performance as Niox which sweats with greed,as Niox hurries over to getting his hands on the ultimate antique.
score 6/10
morrison-dylan-fan 12 March 2017
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3660701/ |
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23-2-2021 18:09:09