A travelling company of actors tours the country with a production of "Lorenzaccio". By accident, one of the younger actors witnesses the murder of a gangster. Before you can say "ooh ! scary !" he has his photograph plastered all over the newspapers, under captions such as "Random bystander becomes key witness"...
A good psychological thriller, this one. At first sight it may seem a quiet, even staid movie, but there are some seriously disquieting undercurrents here. The cast features a lot of (relatively) young talent bound for later superstardom, such as Jeanne Moreau and Lino Ventura.
"Trois jours" also contains a good evocation of the life of a travelling company of actors, complete with amours, rivalries and money troubles. This also gives rise to some nicely ironical lines. ("Did you hear that bloody door slam in the middle of my speech ? I've been an actor for the whole of my life, I've suffered every mean and underhand trick in the book - but a door ! That's a new one !")
It helps if the viewer is somewhat familiar with "Lorenzaccio", a dark and complex drama set in the Italian Renaissance. "Lorenzaccio" treats themes such as playacting, deceit and the unreliability of appearances. In his play, De Musset also explores various facets of courage and cowardice - real, feigned or ambiguous. These subjects are immediately relevant to "Trois jours" too...
A good psychological thriller, this one. At first sight it may seem a quiet, even staid movie, but there are some seriously disquieting undercurrents here. The cast features a lot of (relatively) young talent bound for later superstardom, such as Jeanne Moreau and Lino Ventura.
"Trois jours" also contains a good evocation of the life of a travelling company of actors, complete with amours, rivalries and money troubles. This also gives rise to some nicely ironical lines. ("Did you hear that bloody door slam in the middle of my speech ? I've been an actor for the whole of my life, I've suffered every mean and underhand trick in the book - but a door ! That's a new one !")
It helps if the viewer is somewhat familiar with "Lorenzaccio", a dark and complex drama set in the Italian Renaissance. "Lorenzaccio" treats themes such as playacting, deceit and the unreliability of appearances. In his play, De Musset also explores various facets of courage and cowardice - real, feigned or ambiguous. These subjects are immediately relevant to "Trois jours" too...