La Menace (1977) User Reviews

Thriller that could have been better

[bob998 · 7/10 · 14 May 2006]

Corneau's career is a bit of a puzzle. He started with thrillers and is now making sombre mood pieces like Nocturne indien and Tous les matins du monde that feature career making performances (see Anne Brochet in the latter). La menace starts off as a tight thriller with a harried Yves Montand trying to balance wife and mistress, loses some momentum in the middle as fumble-foot detective Balmer sniffs around the principals, then picks up for a slam-bang finish in the twisting mountain roads of southern British Columbia.

Montand and Carole Laure, the Canadian singer-actress, supply the tension after the sudden death of Marie Dubois (who is the best performer in the picture). Although it's not as good as the classic Série noire with Dewaere, this is a watchable film.

Almost perfect plan...

[jbgeorges · 8/10 · 7 February 2021]

I really liked this nervous and intense film, which is at the same time a thriller, a drama and an action film. The main roles are very well interpreted. Montand is perfect in this type of character, which is reminiscent of the one he interprets in "police python 357". He plays a real genius, and the sense of detail which he uses to deceive the police works perfectly well, but will also cause his downfall. By staging his own death, he goes a little too far, and a grain of sand the size of a heavy truck that shouldn't have been there, will derail his perfect plan. I admit that the ending is not very likely, but so what? Does a movie need to be likely to be good? A film must provoke emotions and make you feel, travel, dream ... "The menace" perfectly fulfills the contract! The suspense and the tension don't leave you from start to finish. And if you love canadian landscape and big trucks like I do, you will be even more deligthed! You should definitely watch it!

an original thriller with a cunningly-plotted intrigue

[myriamlenys · 7/10 · 9 April 2019]

A man has broken with his lover, even though she's a rich and beautiful woman - perhaps because he has grown tired of her, perhaps because he has discovered that she has all the emotional stability of Caligula on LSD. His new lover is even younger - and she's pregnant with their first child. The discarded woman takes this very badly and attacks her rival. Having survived a savage beating, the current lover flees in her car, determined to put as many miles as possible between herself and the madwoman...

In real life, this would have been the point where any reasonable person would have driven to the nearest police station, in order to say : "I was savagely attacked by a woman who tried to harm me AND my unborn child. I want to lodge a complaint. I also want to you to know that my attacker looked and behaved like a complete lunatic, she might very well represent a danger to the community at large."

In the movie the victim does nothing of the sort. She does not contact the police, not even hours later, after she has been able to recover from the first shock. Granted, alerting the police would have paved the way to serious personal and professional embarrassment, but what's embarrassment compared to preservation of life and limb ? Personally I rate this development (or rather, non-development) as a plot hole of the first magnitude, but opinions may differ.

Still, once the viewer has jumped this major hurdle, there is much to enjoy. The elaborate plot is quite original and the ending is both hyper-violent and hugely ironical. I've never been too fond of Yves Montand (don't ask me why, it's a personal taste) but here he is quite good as the manager of a trucking company whose love life lands him in some very hot water indeed.

Mind you, I get the impression that this is a very male movie, in the sense that it represents a very male kind of wish fullfillment fantasy, to wit an older, not particularly handsome man who attracts not one but two superb young women. And then these women fight over him, because he's such a studly stud...

Interesting beginning, boring middle part, interesting ending

[tony_le_stephanois · 10 June 2015]

Dominique (Marie Dubois) can't stand that Julie (Carole Laure) is with her husband Henri Savin (Yves Montand), who owns a transport company. Dominique follows Julie and jumps of a cliff, in a way that Julie could be blamed, especially when they find a ransom note. But Savin thinks about a way out.

You cannot discuss this film without talking about its ending. This film is ALL about its ending. All the reviews are about it. It's the type of ending that evokes discussions. The kind of plot in which you have to accept A LOT of unlikely events as a viewer. I liked it anyway, as the setting is quite wonderful and it feels almost like a film in itself.

There are other interesting things though. There's a great deal of attention for the lighting in this film, which is nice. Also, as many others have mentioned, the part of Marie Dubois is terrific. She is so important for the film, that when she is gone from the story, the film collapses a bit. Director Alain Corneau took a chance with his own screenplay. Because what follows is a long and dragging part in the middle. They could of course have chosen to keep her for the whole film, to continue the suspense, but in that way her role wouldn't feel as powerful as it does now, and the story would be more about exploiting the madness until the end, probably more like something like Cape Fear, which is also nice, but the story works better now this way, I think. I rate it 6/10.

Disappointing and Moralist Story

[claudio_carvalho · 6/10 · 20 September 2023]

The administrator of a huge carrier Henri Savin (Yves Montand) lives with his lover Dominique Montlaur (Marie Dubois), who is the wealthy owner of the truck company. Henri decides to leave Dominique and the company to live with his mistress Julie Manet (Carole Laure), who is two-month pregnant of him. However, Dominique does not accept the deal and stalks Julie. One night, Dominique offers money and fights Julie in a deserted fort, but she escapes from her driving her car. Dominique commits suicide jumping off a cliff and when Henri learns, he tells to Julie deny that they met each other in the fort since nobody would believe that Dominique killed herself. Julie is arrested for murder, and now Henri plants evidences to mislead the police and believe he is the real killer.

"La menace" is a film with a very disappointing conclusion. The death of Henri Savin seems to be a moralist mean to punish the man that betrayed his woman to be with a younger one. The plot is reasonable and is impressive how the police Inspector Waldeck is naive, following the fake leads planted by Henri. In the end, the plot is stupid and pointless. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Encurralado para Morrer" ("Trapped to Die")

A so obvious tribute....

[searchanddestroy-1 · 10/10 · 12 February 2021]

As I have said in trivia line, this movie, for the last third, is a more than obvious tribute to Hank Georges Clouzot's LE SALAIRE DE LA PEUR. SPOILERS SPOIMERS SPOILERS SPOILERS with Montand driving on dangerous mountain roads, and in some scenes behind a truck wheel, guessing that he has finally made it, thinking he succeeded in his plans before finally....See what I mean? But that's my own point of view. I let you judge by yourself. You also may think of the climax of Eddy Molinaro's UN TEMOIN DANS LA VILLE; where Montand replaces Lino Ventura and truck drivers replace cab ones. One of the most exciting climax ever seen on screen.

Enough plot holes to fill the Albert Hall,but entertaining!

[dbdumonteil · 26 October 2002]

With hindsight,Alain Corneau's best works are his second (Police Python 357),the third one (this one) and the fourth effort(série noire).The first two are unpretentious suspense movies which are quite gripping.THe last one is a different matter:much more ambitious in scope ,Corneau ,abetted by the late Patrick Dewaere,peaks and shows his limits the same way.Subsequent works will be overblown sagas (Fort Saganne),boring arty works (tous les matins du monde) and blatant commercial duds (le prince du Pacifique).

"La menace" and "POlice Python 357" look like each other.Both feature Montand ,trying to get away with an inextricable situation.In both movies,in order to fool the POlice,he accumulates false pieces of evidence,clues made up from start to finish,you name it...Enough is enough!Sometimes the viewer is fed up .It's more obvious in "la menace" than in "Police Python 357" because the pace is too slow,and the movie suffers from an inexpressive Carole Laure.MINOR SPOILER:It's really too bad that highly superior Marie Dubois should disappear so early in the story(after 25 minutes!)END OF SPOILER

Montand was not that much exciting an actor either.Best male part comes from Jean-François Balmer,playing a die-hard Colombo ,but with a clean raincoat.The ending is rather unusual and nicely absurd;But ,should the Canadian long-distance truck drivers see this movie,they might not agree with the picture of them Corneau gives to the world.

Should perhaps be better-known

[philosopherjack · 16 November 2019]

Alain Corneau's La menace plays out a cleverly-conceived scheme - a protagonist (Yves Montand's Henri Savin) implicated in two non-existent crimes: the first a suicide in which his lover is implicated through coincidence; the second an elaborate ruse he devises as a route to freedom, but which works all too well, bringing him down through vigilante justice. Given all the complications, the film has relatively little dialogue, focusing primarily on action, from large-scale stunts on mountain highways to endless small manipulations: the typing of a faked letter, self-inflicting incriminating scratches, manipulating the hands of a clock and so on, the irony being that the underlying motive usually differs from the kind of malign set-up we're used to in genre movies. In truth, it's hard to figure out why Savin goes down this road in the first place, but perhaps the premise is that of an ill-considered initial reaction that then inexorably leads to others. The film's climax plays out in British Columbia, where Corneau appears to have a great time marshalling heavy vehicles (this at the height of CB radio culture) on wide-open roads, although it doesn't say much for the morals and ethics of Canadian truckers. The use of Montand in such a context presumably evokes The Wages of Fear, a movie that of course is infinitely better-remembered than La menace: for all of Corneau's skill, the film feels rather uninvolving, partly because it's hard to believe in the relationship between Savin and the beautiful, much younger cipher played by Carole Laure. The film hints that the investigating detective may contain his own more complex depths, but that just peters out, as does an initial subplot relating to human trafficking. Overall, it feels like Corneau's precision and the climactic investment in spectacle should have resulted in a better-known film, but on the other hand the fate of excessive calculation leading to oblivion is an apt mirroring of its central narrative.

Gripping thriller, imaginatively directed, superbly acted (particularly by Cesar award-winning Dubois)

[JohnHowardReid · 19 October 2011]

I'll admit that the movie does tend to come apart in its concluding Canadian sequences, but they are so extravagantly handled and come to such a unique finish, this is only a minor flaw in this very superior suspense outing. Mind you, the plot does have some holes, but the pace is so fast and the atmosphere so intense, few will notice. I'll also admit that – with the notable exception of the cliff-top scenes as well as most of the other Dubois footage – the film is not as noirish in its atmosphere as it might be. For some reason, possibly to contrast with Montand's heavily dramatic hero, Balmer's police detective is presented in rather a light manner (no shadows in his scenes) and is likewise enacted in a far less dramatic style (almost flippant, in fact). Although outclassed by the venomously neurotic Dubois, Canadian actress Carole Laure is perfectly cast as the nice girl, the innocent in Montand's heavily dramatic life.

Some critics would argue that the hero is too inventive for his own good and far too imaginative to sustain the reality of the plot. Nonetheless, thanks to Corneau's excitingly incisive direction, and his suspenseful script (co-written with Daniel Boulanger), plus a great deal of money upfront, "La Menace" fully lives up its title.

In short, a superbly gripping thriller from first until almost last. Superbly photographed too – and on some hair-raising locations!

corpses

[Kirpianuscus · 20 August 2023]

A truck driver in balance between two women, the death of one of tem after the confrontation against the other, the risks to be accused by murder and his solution reminding a sort of version of Count of Monte Cristo. After a chain of cues for save his girfriend, when a seems easy to have the best soution, a terrible confusion and a revenge not very different by one from the first part of fim.

Beautiful job of Carole Laure and Yves Montand, impressive performance of Marie Dubois.

Tension and large embroidery of clues and pure American end.

Impressive, maybe more for action scenes than for the story itsef.

They do not love, that do not show their love.

[Cristi_Ciopron · 24 August 2006]

They do not love, that do not show their love.

--SHAKESPEARE.

Henri S.,a middle-aged man who works in the transport trucks business,is ready to switch from one mistress to another:from a richer one,Dominique (who is also his boss),to a younger,poorer one,Julie Manet (played by Carole Laure ,a Canadian starlet).

Dominique doesn't seem ready to accept Henri's leave,on the contrary.

She tracks "Julie" and meets her at the "Citadel",somewhere outside the town.The two women fight,Dominique knocks Julie,asks her to leave Henri,offers her money.Julie manages to run off.Dominique kills herself.

Dominique's body is found.A cop inquires into her death,and looks inquiringly at Julie,he believes she settled Dominique's hash.Some marks,some witnesses,some paint scratched lead to Julie.

Henri inherits ,by Dominique's will,a large sum of her money.He and Julie are both taken to task.They did not kill Dominique,are not responsible for her death;non the less,some things indicate them.On that score,the police suspects Julie.

Henri decides to solve this on his own;his innermost thoughts are hidden.He seems to hold off,while he deepens in himself and works up a carefully conceived plan. Henri seems to accuse Julie and to leave her to her own devices;in fact,he gives her a leg up,and paves the way for them getting through.(" No cord or cable can draw so forcibly, or bind so fast, as love can do with only a single thread."--BURTON.)He outwits the cops,and moves heaven and earth to tip the scale.His plan has two steps:first,he does everything to incriminate "Julie Manet",so that he may gain some time,then he plants evidences against himself and drives the policemen to suspect him,so that "Julie Manet" may be released Scot-free,while he leaves France,going the whole hog.He pushes this plan through.

In Canada,he works as a trucker.Julie,still in France,gives birth to Henri's child.

Henri S. will drink his cup to the lees.

The movie gets increasingly good.La Menace's last third (after "Henri" leaves France) is very suspenseful,igneous,uncompromising and intense,it looks like an homage to Clouzot.

The climax is violent,it has suspense,bitterness,and strength.

Montand is ripping,does himself justice as the gnarled,ungentle Henri and acts keenly.

If you are a serious Alain Corneau fan,don't miss this one.

MAJOR SPOILER!!! Help me understand the ending

[moviesvl · 28 December 2013]

I watched this movie in the theater, as a kid, in original time it came out. There were 2 showrooms with daily projections each, every 2 hours, one on odd the other on even hours. Ever since I'm not sure about the ending.

Namely, was he really ... BTW those two ..., or he made a deal with those Canadian ..., so everybody would ..., while he ... enjoy ... with his ...

Am I expecting too much from this movie? Never the less, it's one of my private cults, and these last couple of lines are just to conform to IMDb minimum No. of lines rule. But it seams they will never get enough of it. Blah , Blah ...