Le Marginal (1983)
Directed by Jacques Deray

Film Review

With its colossal budget, big star names (Belomondo and Silva), spectacular stunts and unbelievable action scenes, Le Marginal is a lavish French crime thriller which easily rivals similar extravaganzas from Hollywood.  But that is really all there is.  There is little in the way of originality, the plot is both dull and predictable, characterisation is virtually non-existent and there is a distinct lack of those characteristics which distinguish the French thriller from its American counterpart (wit, charm, a certain poetry, and irony). Le Marginal is merely an unashamed attempt to compete with the American blockbuster action thriller on its own ground, although it does rather a good job of doing so.

Jean-Paul Belmondo plays the film's lead character, a tough maverick with a sentimental streak, the role which Belmondo had made his own in the preceding decade.  Whilst the actor is beginning to look a little too long in the tooth to be playing this kind of action hero, he is still impressive, oozing charisma and throwing himself (literally) into the most incredible death-defying stunts.  It was undoubtedly the actor's popularity at the time which assured the film's staggering success in France.  Within its first week of exploitation, Le Marginal had attracted nearly half a million spectators, a record which has rarely been broken since.

Film Synopsis

In Marseille, police superintendent Jordan is waging a determined personal war against the city's drug barons, foremost of whom is Sauveur Meccaci, a gangster of formidable repute.  Jordan's somewhat excessive methods bring him into conflict with his superiors, who decide it is high time he had a transfer.  To tame his enthusiasm, Jordan is posted to a small police station in Paris, where he has to content himself with chasing petty criminals and prostitutes.  Inspector Rojinsky is the only cop in his new team that Jordan sees eye-to-eye with, and with his help he is once again on the trail of Meccaci and his drugs trafficking associates.

Jordan's investigation brings him into contact with an ex-cop who is suspected of being in league with the criminals, a suspicious individual named Alfred with underworld connections, and a seductive South American prostitute, Linda, with whom he gets on very friendly terms.  With Meccaci proving to be an unpredictable and dangerous adversary, the kind of gangland boss who dispenses bullets more liberally than confetti at a wedding, Jordan will need every ounce of his guile if he is to avoid his enemy's traps and bring the feared crime lord to justice...