The Judge and the Assassin
Le Juge et l'assassin
Bertrand Tavernier
In 1893, sergeant Joseph Bouvier is discharged because of his periodic bursts of violence. Bouvier goes to see his fiancée Louise Lesueur, but she refuses to marry him. Blinded by his sorrow, he fires three revolver rounds into Louise and then tries to commit suicide. Interned in the Dôle asylum, he is released the following year...
With : Philippe Noiret, Michel Galabru, Isabelle Huppert, Jean-Claude Brialy
Screenplay : Jean Aurenche, Bertrand Tavernier, d'après un sujet original de Pierre Bost, Jean Aurenche
Image : Pierre William Glenn
Editing : Armand Psenny
Music : Philippe Sarde
Decors : Antoine Roman
Screenplay : Jean Aurenche, Bertrand Tavernier, d'après un sujet original de Pierre Bost, Jean Aurenche
Image : Pierre William Glenn
Editing : Armand Psenny
Music : Philippe Sarde
Decors : Antoine Roman
Production : R. Dannon, Lira, SFP, FR3
Distribution: Connaissance du Cinéma
Distribution: Connaissance du Cinéma
The film's assassin actually existed. Named Joseph Vacher, his story figured widely in the criminal news of the Third French Republic. Violent, melancholy and suffering from a mystical delirium, he is confronted with a judge who seeks hasty justice. "The opposition between this complex, tormented and mystical character, victim of his murderous episodes, and the unbending judge, who blindly upholds the social order, is perfectly rendered in the confrontation of these two actors (...). A questioning magistrate against an anarchist of God. Two vile beings in a hard and insolent plea against the death penalty" (G. Lenne).