The Serrano case

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Movie
German title The Serrano case
Original title Mort d'un pourri
The case of serrano.svg
Country of production France
original language French
Publishing year 1977
length 120 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Georges Lautner
script Raf Vallet ,
Michel Audiard
production Alain Delon
music Philippe Sarde
camera Henri Decaë
cut Michelle David
occupation

The Serrano case is a French thriller directed by Georges Lautner from 1977 with Alain Delon in the lead role. The novel Mort d'un pourri (also the original title of the film) by Raf Vallet served as a literary model .

action

Early in the morning, the lawyer Xavier Maréchal's friend, MP Philippe Dubaye, appears. Dubaye confesses to him that he killed the politician Serrano in his office that night because he blackmailed him with a file. He asks "Xav" to help him. That morning, Maréchal goes to the crime scene. Commissioners Moreau and Pernais question him and are amazed at the alibi that Maréchal gives his friend because Dubaye had an appointment with Serrano at the time in question. Maréchal has doubts and asks Dubaye to tell him the full truth. He gives him instructions on where to find the file - namely in an apartment that his lover Valérie lives in. Maréchal and Kébir, the parking attendant, set off in his car to the apartment, which is just outside Paris. A heavy American car follows hers; the pursuers ram the Simca , which overturns. Maréchal remains uninjured and is able to flee, the captors kill the injured Kébir. Maréchal arrives at the apartment. He can shake off the persecutors and bring the girl and her documents to safety. However, when he returns to Philippe, he is dejected and passed out.

When Maréchal comes to, he finds Dubaye lying dead next to him. With the file in his possession, he receives tempting offers from the politician Fondari and his lawyer colleague Lacor. Many are apparently after the file, including an enigmatic foreigner named Tomski, and do not even shy away from murder, as has been shown. With the help of Valérie, which he is now hiding with an old friend, Maréchal makes photocopies of the files. As a means of pressure, he publishes some details anonymously in newspapers that also weigh heavily on other politicians.

As a result, there are more dead and injured, including Dubai's widow, who allegedly jumped drunk from the 8th floor. Maréchal is presented with a choice several times. Tomski invites him to go hunting. Already on the way there was another attack on Maréchal's life when a car transporter "accidentally" got stuck on a bridge and the cars fell on Maréchal's following car. During the hunt, Lacor is seriously injured by a shot load; an accident". After the hunt, Tomski persuades Maréchal to give up his moral illusions of justice. It was a battle of the rulers against the proletariat, in which the victor had already been determined. Tomski wants to buy it for 2 million francs. Maréchal refuses again and is rescued by the police when there is a fire on the way home one night. Maréchal and Pernais survive, Valérie dies. For Maréchal, there is no longer any doubt as to who is really behind the murders or who really wants the files: the brutal upstart Fondari and his clique. Maréchal confronts him, knocks him down and gives him a pistol shot in the knee. But the murderer is someone else: the brilliant criminalist Moreau made contacts with the underworld in order to let them and some politicians go up with the help of the files. Maréchal sets a trap for Moreau with the help of Pernais. He meets with the inspector at the train station to hand over the explosive file that he has deposited in a locker there. Maréchal secretly carries a recording device with him. He brings the unsuspecting Moreau to an emphatic confession: the policeman who has turned into a murderer from an exaggerated ethos wants to get Maréchal to his side. The scene is surrounded by the police. Maréchal turns the tape up to full volume so that Moreau recognizes the situation and still draws his weapon - Maréchal shoots him and the file reaches the Minister of Justice.

music

The first shot of the film shows the silhouette of a tenor saxophonist improvising to the theme song Paris, Cinq Heures du Matin . The film music by Philippe Sarde is largely shaped by the saxophonist Stan Getz , sometimes with his own quartet, sometimes with the strings of the London Symphony Orchestra . The following musicians are involved:

Anecdotes

  • The images on Xav's table are from the film They Fear Neither Death nor the Devil , in which Delon and Ronet play two paratroopers in the Algerian War, and from the films Only the Sun Was Witness and The Swimming Pool , in which Delon and Ronet also stand side by side are seen.
  • The scene in which Serrano is murdered shows the actual course of the crime, while Dubaye pretends to be an act of desperation in the off.

Reviews

"Excellent cast, slightly cynical crime film."

- Lexicon of international film

"Cool, clever thriller with a top cast."

- Cinema

Awards

At the César Awards in 1978 , Alain Delon was nominated for best actor and Raf Vallet and Michel Audiard for best screenplay.

literature

  • Raf Vallet: Mort d'un pourri . Illustrations by Jean-Claude Leymarie. Editions Famot, Geneva 1978, 250 pp.

Web links

Commons : Locations of the film The Serrano Fall  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Serrano case. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film Service , accessed April 30, 2008 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  2. ↑ The Serrano case on cinema.de