La Horse (1970)
Directed by Pierre Granier-Deferre

Film Review

Whilst much of the last decade of Jean Gabin's career is generally pretty lacklustre there are a few films in which the actor distinguishes himself with some pretty remarkable performances.  Foremost of these is La Horse, in which Gabin plays a character who is very much close to his own heart, a patriarchal landowner who is anchored in the ways of the past.  At the time, Gabin had settled with a substantial holding in rural Normandy and regarded himself more as a simple farmer than a film actor.  In La Horse, Gabin is at his most forceful and compelling, and the film's impact is largely down to his impressive contribution.

La Horse was directed by Pierre Granier-Deferre who is noted for bringing gritty realism into his thrillers and film dramas, whilst rigorously expunging any trace of sentimentality.  One of his best films is Le Chat (1971), which again starred Jean Gabin in another extraordinary performance. La Horse is not, it has to be said, Granier-Deferre's best work. Whilst the film has some magnificent set pieces (for example, the horrific scene where a herd of terrified cows is mowed down by a car), it is an awkward mixture of melodrama and conventional thriller. With all of the drama in the first half of the film, the second half feels painfully empty and concludes with a predictable and generally disappointing ending. Another cause of irritation is Serge Gainsbourg's music, which seems to have been written for an entirely different kind of film; here it appears intrusive and grotesquely inappropriate, laughably trying to inject dramatic impact where there clearly isn't any to be had.

Film Synopsis

Auguste Maroilleur is a man in his sixties who is proud of his heritage and has no intention of letting it slip from his grasp.  The owner of a farm in Normandy, he clings doggedly to the old traditions and has no time for the supposed progress that the modern world offers him.  He lives with his daughters Mathilde and Louise and their husbands Léon and Maurice, confident that when they inherit the farm after his death they will continue the traditions he values so highly.  On discovering that a gang of drugs traffickers are hiding drugs on his farm Auguste is incensed.  He can barely contain his outrage when he learns that his grandson Henri is mixed up with the criminals.

As soon as he sees one of Henri's drug dealing associates set foot on his land, the old man shoots him dead without a moment's reflection.  The traffickers, led by François, retaliate by viciously slaughtering the farm's livestock.  And then Véronique, Auguste's granddaughter, is raped.  For the old man, this is not a crime, it is a declaration of war.  There is no need to bring in the police now.  Auguste feels he is justified in dealing with the criminals as he sees fit - which is to hunt down and murder every last one of them.  In this, Léon and Maurice are more than willing to lend their support...