Delon producer obviously wanted to match the scale, quality (and commercial success) of René Clément's "plein soleil " aka "purple noon" :he hired the same cameraman ,Henri Decae ,who used the same treatment of color in the cast and credits as in the 1959 work ; he hired Maurice Ronet ( called Philippe as in "plein soleil" ) ;it was actually the third time they had worked together (see also "la piscine") but unfortunately Ronet is only supporting ,which is too bad ,for the pair proved a winning team .
There the comparison ends : "plein soleil" was a psychological thriller (and a masterpiece) whereas "mort d'un pourri" is a political one (and an OK movie); certainly influenced by the American political thrillers, one must note that the genre was thriving in France of the seventies : "le juge Fayard dit le, shériff" (Boisset) "Adieu Poulet " ( Granier -Deferre) or "défense de savoir" (Nadine Trintignant);Lautner actually jumped on the bandwagon.
Action -packed ,nicely filmed (Decae outdoes himself in the night scenes ) ,with a stellar cast : apart from the efficient pair I mention above , Klaus Kinski is cynical and disturbing. Jean-Bouise and Michel Aumont portray both sides of the police .By and large ,the female cast is wasted: Audran I love in Chabrol's movies seems self-conscious,Ornella Muti is decorative , and Mireille Darc' s role is pointless.
"mort d'un pourri" depicts a corrupt political world where politicians are vile rogues,preys for blackmailers; the politics remain vague, avoiding to take sides , the assassin and his henchmen are puppets in the hands of powerful men who stay in the wings ; the last picture is revealing :a big shadow of Delon seems to protect the city,after singlehandedly defeating the bad guys .Only pure manly friendship survives in this river of dirt : although Philippe degraded himself in politics, he remains a brother in arms in the colonial wars .
There the comparison ends : "plein soleil" was a psychological thriller (and a masterpiece) whereas "mort d'un pourri" is a political one (and an OK movie); certainly influenced by the American political thrillers, one must note that the genre was thriving in France of the seventies : "le juge Fayard dit le, shériff" (Boisset) "Adieu Poulet " ( Granier -Deferre) or "défense de savoir" (Nadine Trintignant);Lautner actually jumped on the bandwagon.
Action -packed ,nicely filmed (Decae outdoes himself in the night scenes ) ,with a stellar cast : apart from the efficient pair I mention above , Klaus Kinski is cynical and disturbing. Jean-Bouise and Michel Aumont portray both sides of the police .By and large ,the female cast is wasted: Audran I love in Chabrol's movies seems self-conscious,Ornella Muti is decorative , and Mireille Darc' s role is pointless.
"mort d'un pourri" depicts a corrupt political world where politicians are vile rogues,preys for blackmailers; the politics remain vague, avoiding to take sides , the assassin and his henchmen are puppets in the hands of powerful men who stay in the wings ; the last picture is revealing :a big shadow of Delon seems to protect the city,after singlehandedly defeating the bad guys .Only pure manly friendship survives in this river of dirt : although Philippe degraded himself in politics, he remains a brother in arms in the colonial wars .