Le Guignolo (1980)
Directed by Georges Lautner

Film Review

After the commercial success of Flic ou voyou (1978), director Georges Lautner and actor Jean-Paul Belmondo were reunited in their next film, Le Guignolo (along with most of the cast and production team of their previous  film).  This time, Lautner had the advantage of a considerably greater budget and practically no constraints on the film's scenario or location.   The director was keen to make a film in Venice and was also eager to return to the comedy thriller which earned him fame in the 1960s, hoping to repeat the sucess of such films as Les Tontons flinguers (1963).  The result was Le Guignolo, a fast-moving, rather incoherent, but fun, comedy spy thriller.

Whilst this is an entertaining film, it is marred (as in many of Lautner's films) by its unbridled excesses.   With so many subplots and characters, it is a real struggle to keep up with the film, which surges on at a relentless pace, often to the detriment of its better points.  This matters not so much because, somehow, it never manages to run out of steam, and the jokes and action stunts just keep coming.   The sumptuous locations and Henri Decae's beautiful photography of Venice also help to mask the film's weak points.

The film includes some of Jean-Paul Belmondo's most impressive stunts, most famously the extended shot where he is suspended from a helicopter flying high over Venice - a remarkable feat for a man in his mid-forties and perhaps the clearest testimony of his courage or mad daring.

With its mix of burlesque comedy and conventional crime thriller, Le Guignolo is something of a schizophrenic film.  In some ways this is a good thing, because it introduces an element of tension which is otherwise lacking and always keeps the audience guessing as to what will happen next.  On the downside, the two styles sometimes work against each other - for example, the comedy undermining the film's serious moments, and the latter rendering some of the comedy decidely unpalatable.

Despite some very negative criticism when it was first released, Le Guignolo was a commercial success, attracting nearly 2.9 million spectators in France (somewhat less, however, than Flic ou voyou).

Film Synopsis

Within days of leaving prison, international conman Alexandre Dupré is soon back to his old habits, hoping to make his fortune by preying on the gullibility and greed of others.  On a luxury liner, convincingly disguised as a rich Indian prince, he sets about gaining the confidence of the wealthy heiress Sophie Chaperon, not knowing that she is up to the same nefarious game as he is.  Undeterred by this setback, Alexandre heads off for Venice to try to palm a copy of a stolen Canaletto off onto some unsuspecting Japanese businessmen.  Before the plane comes into land, a stranger approaches the conman and asks him to take his briefcase through customs for him.

The mysterious stranger is shot dead at the airport before he can reclaim the briefcase, which unbeknown to Alexandre contains a valuable piece of microfilm hidden inside a lighter.  It seems that the French security services are not the only ones who are keen to get their hands on the microfilm, which holds details of a revolutionary new fuel.  Before he knows it, Alexandre is being hotly pursued by numerous rival agents who are ready to kill to recover the priceless information he unwittingly has in his possession and which may ultimately cost him his life...