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À mort l'arbitre (1984) Plus avec IMDbPro »

2 utilisateurs sur 2 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
the "beast" must die, 1 avril 2007

Auteur : dbdumonteil

Like Claude Chabrol's, Jean Pierre Mocky's CV is filled with a very long list of films but if the former's one includes a generous crop of masterworks, you can count on the fingers of your hand, the works which reach this scale in Mocky's copious filmography. "A Mort l'Arbitre" should be on the top of his most palatable pieces of work. Even if the somewhat botched job of the venture can irritate, it's a work that bears the hallmark of its auteur and is quite well controlled in the starting point and its development.

Because he whistled a penalty which made the local team lose, Maurice Bruno (Eddy Mitchell) is hunted down by a bunch of wild supporters led by Rico (Michel Serrault, one of Mocky's favorites). In spite of the efforts made by the police superintendent Granowski (Jean Pierre Mocky) flanked by his female partner, the situation's getting out of hand...

"A crowd is dumb, she always follows the craziest one". Mocky's opinion is perfectly illustrated in his work. The filmmaker plumps for a tawdry society phenomenon which is still a topical one more than twenty years after the shooting of the film: dogged football hooligans who are ready to commit acts of violence when something's wrong at a football game. Made in a quite homespun style, Mocky's film conjures up a discomforting climate thanks to a judicious choice of the scenery (Maurice's apartment located in an eerie, imposing place the underground gallery at the end of the film) and a suspense deftly maintained.

If you must choose 10 films by Mocky to remember, this one would have a meaty place.

3 utilisateurs sur 7 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
Ugly and violent - limited in audience attraction - well acted !, 10 octobre 2005

Auteur : Nicholas Rhodes de Ile-de-France / Paris Region, France

*** Ce commentaire peut contenir des spoilers ***

The film is about a crowd of football supporters, annoyed about a referee's decision causing their team to lose the match, track down the referee and bludgeon him to death whilst his fiancé looks on, powerless !

This film is NO LAUGHING MATTER. Heavily implied violence initially actually leads later on to very ugly physical violence and then, death. The film is "sans concession" which means there is no saving or redeeming grace at the end. I put a spoiler warning because people should be warned before watching this one, especially the faint of heart. Of course ugly football violence is a reality of life today, in Europe at least .

Credit must be given to the actors for their lifelike portrayal of such scum but it is pretty frightening stuff, it is not a blood-and-gore film, but the implied violence in the behaviour is far more frightening than piles of tomato sauce and false chopped-up limbs.

The evil ringleader is portrayed by Michel Serrault, for whom I have never cared a great deal but admit his performance here is excellent. The referee is played by "Eddy Mitchell" ( real name Claude Moine ), one of the leading French authorities on American films of the 1950's and an erstwhile French rock 'n roll singer in the sixties. Today he is a much loved and appreciated figure in France.

Most of the film was made in Noisy-le-Grand, fifteen miles east of Paris, France in what was at the time a new area designed by Catalan architect Ricardo Bofill. Two high rise blocks in the form of camembert cheeses feature amply in the decors as well as a huge apartment block called "Le Palacio". Today the area has aged badly and is certainly not to be entered at night, even if you're not a referee fleeing a band of enraged supporters.

A work only to be recommended for those who derive pleasure from watching the ugliest form of violence - you are warned !!

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