Cartouche (1962)

December 23, 2023 admin Comments 0 Comment

“They obey me from one end of Paris to the other.”

Synopsis:
In 18th century France, a swashbuckling thief (Jean-Paul Belmondo) travels with his accomplices and his new wife Venus (Claudia Cardinale) to Paris, where they begin robbing from the rich and distributing to the poor — but things get much more complicated when “Cartouche” (Belmondo) falls for a beautiful noblewoman (Odile Versois).

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

Claudia Cardinale Films
French Films
Historical Drama
Jean-Paul Belmondo Films
Love Triangle
Royalty and Nobility
Thieves and Criminals

Review:
Philippe de Broca — perhaps best known for helming cult favorite King of Hearts (1966) — directed this high-spirited historical adventure flick, described by the New York Times reviewer as offering up “colorful, illustrating legendary footnotes to French history that should keep action fans, romantics and comedy connoisseurs happy even if it confuses the historians.” Indeed, one shouldn’t look for historical accuracy of any kind here — but the production design is appropriately lush, and one feels plopped directly into the era.

A year before starring in Fellini’s 8 1/2 (1963), Cardinale played luscious Venus, a gypsy whose willingness to overlook her partner’s openly roving eye strains credulity yet somehow works anyway; thankfully, her character is given an appropriately satisfying arc.

Belmondo, meanwhile — who seems to have participated in a remarkable number of films during the early 1960s — is able to put his rascally Godardian persona to good use (and did all his own stunts).

While it’s easy to see why he would fall for beautiful Versois:

… it does get complicated keeping our loyalties straight. Regardless, fans of this type of fare will likely not be disappointed (though viewers should be forewarned that there’s a highly distressing, lengthy waterboarding sequence included at one point).