Shortly after killing a man, a murderer bumps into an unsuspecting taxi driver. The taxi driver doesn't worry overmuch about this accidental encounter. Later on, however, he begins to realize that he may have witnessed a crime. In spite of his girlfriend's entreaties he refuses to go to the police...
"Un témoin dans la ville" is quite an ingenious thriller with a twisty plot. Little touches of wit and humanity keep the movie from becoming grimmer than grim. Gradually the story turns into a generalized manhunt, with a clever criminal becoming a prey. Alfred Hitchcock would have been proud of the final dramatic pursuit and its thundering conclusion.
Playing the role of the murderer, Lino Ventura gives a marvelously threatening performance. Ventura had a background in professional wrestling and it shows : his considerable bulk expresses both massive strength and coiled menace.
Many black-and-white thrillers like to play around with darkness-versus-light effects. "Un témoin" too knows how to scare the viewer. Just watch the scene, set in a cab, where Ventura's stone-hard face is hidden by a mask of shadows. Or watch the scene where an increasingly weak Ventura tries to concentrate on navigating the traffic : the lights in front of his eyes dance, melt, merge and wink, as in some hellish fever dream.
Deserves to be appreciated by a larger audience.
"Un témoin dans la ville" is quite an ingenious thriller with a twisty plot. Little touches of wit and humanity keep the movie from becoming grimmer than grim. Gradually the story turns into a generalized manhunt, with a clever criminal becoming a prey. Alfred Hitchcock would have been proud of the final dramatic pursuit and its thundering conclusion.
Playing the role of the murderer, Lino Ventura gives a marvelously threatening performance. Ventura had a background in professional wrestling and it shows : his considerable bulk expresses both massive strength and coiled menace.
Many black-and-white thrillers like to play around with darkness-versus-light effects. "Un témoin" too knows how to scare the viewer. Just watch the scene, set in a cab, where Ventura's stone-hard face is hidden by a mask of shadows. Or watch the scene where an increasingly weak Ventura tries to concentrate on navigating the traffic : the lights in front of his eyes dance, melt, merge and wink, as in some hellish fever dream.
Deserves to be appreciated by a larger audience.