Le Silencieux

From the very beginning, I have always said that the foundation of a film is the script. The Silent One, however, is a rare case where directorial and acting dedication can work wonders and turn a typical B-movie storyline into a great story and a powerful drama. Lino Ventura gets caught in the midst of a clash between secret services in Eastern and Western Europe and soon becomes a pawn in his own country. His paranoia reaches its peak, but those who expect the worst are usually prepared for anything. And as it is known, fortune favors the prepared. The Silent One is a dark and suspenseful film, where I willingly overlook the obvious flaws in the script. Among other things, it involves a whole army of spies capable of organizing an assassination at a moment's notice. Fortunately, reality was somewhat different even during the height of the Cold War. I also overlook the almost operatic unveiling of the villains and ultimately give the film the highest rating. Overall impression: 90%. (2014.11.25)

Lino Ventura turns his head to his shoulder, but this time he's not looking for a butterfly. His neck has to strain more because he's looking back to see who's after him. With the fitting English title Escape to Nowhere, the story is told mostly through imagery, and you can't expect it to stray far from the tried-and-true line of "a lone man thrown into the eye of a storm of power struggles." The music really adds oxygen to it. While Brahms intensifies the finale, Goraguer’s main theme evokes genuine sympathy for the protagonist. By the way, the lead actor, with his restrained gestures, couldn't have been a better choice. If you placed a level on the spine of his character, the bubble between the lines wouldn’t move out of fear. (2022.09.16)

A breathtaking opening, a brilliant ending, and everything in between was very much the same except for a few isolated moments. Lino Ventura was truly born for these heroes and probably few could have made the character of a desperate scientist fighting for survival so believable. I liked the oppressively hopeless mood of The Conversation with Gene Hackman even better, but that doesn't mean I'm not happy giving The Silent One five stars. (2014.06.01)