The secret plunges us into a terrifying manhunt and paranoid descent into hell. David, played by the excellent Jean-Louis Trintignant, escapes from a clandestine prison where he is being held for a state secret of which he accidentally became aware. In his flight he meets a couple of post sixty-eighters magnificently interpreted by the beautiful Marlène Jobert and the incomparable Philippe Noiret. Getting friends, they will try to help him in his escape ... The atmosphere is very oppressive and the doubt permanent. Like Marlène Jobert, feeling very attracted by this attractive and mysterious man but also very frightened at the idea that he could be a madman escaped from an asylum, the spectator is constantly tossed about and drawn into a headlong rush that one quickly guesses tragic... This film deals above all with "reason of state" which can be ruthless in the face of the derisory freedom of individuals, at a time when this theme was acute, in the seventies. Without knowing the exact nature of the secret and who is really hunting David, we can identify senior officials of the internal security and intelligence services. Today we would call it the deep State. This ruthless and reckless beast is skillfully opposed by Robert Enrico to the idealistic and somewhat naive world of the post-sixty-eighters, who end up crushed by the relentless machine. A wonderful and very atmospheric film that chills your spine and which is unfortunately still relevant today.
Review of The Secret
