Cena de acusados

Diez antiguos combatientes de la Resistencia francesa se reúnen en una habitación para localizar a un traidor con las manos manchadas de sangre después de quince años. El autor podría ser cualquiera de ellos. Y el juego de la paranoia puede comenzar. Con sus diálogos agudos y brillantemente escritos, recuerda a Doce hombres sin piedad a la manera francesa, aquí también se contempla la culpabilidad o la inocencia, la misericordia o la sentencia de muerte, solo que aún no se conoce al condenado. Pero eso está a punto de cambiar. Marie-Octobre es un drama íntimo brillantemente escrito, actuado y dirigido, que te atrae fuertemente. (08.09.2019)

The space of one lounge, ten former members of the resistance, one maid and the exposure of a fifteen-year-old story of betrayal. And even if they could prove what happened in the past, what to do with the traitor after all these years? The point or the identity of the individual concerned is not that important in this movie. It is mainly an acting concert in the form of a conversational drama à la 12 Angry Men where everything depends on a perfectly build up and ever more tense atmosphere of mistrust growing amongst friends who would have sacrificed their lives for one another. Once upon a time, but not anymore. (03.02.2013)

Back in the day, I watched the flagship of the conversational drama genre, Twelve Angry Men, without much enthusiasm. However, Marie-October was a clear surprise for me and I put it in the spot reserved for Lumet's film. The quality dialogues, strong theme, the search for a traitor and a murderer among its ranks, and top-notch cast guarantee an attractive spectacle that has not aged even after 60 years. An interior conversational drama usually gives the impression of a theatrical performance in front of a film camera, and that is the case here as well, but personally, I do not consider this fact a handicap. Thumbs up from me, overall impression: 90%. (17.05.2020)