Le Voyou movie storyline. Simon (Jean-Louis Trintignant), known as “the Swiss”, a gangster escaped from prison takes refuge in a cinema, where in order to escape the police gaze, he forces a spectator named Janine (Danièle Delorme) to kiss him; she agrees to host him, at first with reluctance, then with pleasure. He makes contact with Martine (Christine Lelouch), his former mistress and with his accomplices and also recovers a suitcase full of dollars.
Indeed, five years earlier, he had carried out a daring kidnapping of a child: Martine, posing as an announcer from Europe 1, announced to an average French couple, the Welsh (the husband is a bank employee) that they just won a jackpot. She invites them to go immediately with their son to the Olympia for the award ceremony. Simon welcomes them there and trains their child so that he is present on stage when the jackpot is awarded.
The successful kidnapping, Simon demands, not from the parents but from the Bank, that it pay the ransom. During this time he makes the father an accomplice by giving him a glimpse of the sharing of the loot. But if “the thug” has returned the child, he has not given his share to Welsh who furiously denounces him to the police. Simon therefore has a score to settle with Welsh. Accompanied by his friend Charlot, he attracts him to a deserted place and forces him to sign a confession, then with Charlot and Martine, he flies abroad.
Le Voyou, also known as The Crook, is a highly stylized French action film which follows Simon the Swiss during his largest heist. Directed by Claude Lelouch in 1970, and starring Jean-Louis Trintignant, the movie makes use of several cinematic techniques to convey the elusive nature of the title character, including a circular narrative, dialogue littered with conflicting statements, flashbacks, musical montage, multiple styles of film editing, misaligned sound editing, and a movie within the movie. The film won the David di Donatello for Best Foreign Direction in 1971.
Le Voyou (1970)
Directed by: Claude Lelouch
Starring: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Danièle Delorme, Charles Gérard , Christine Lelouch, Yves Robert, Judith Magre, Aldo Maccione, Paul Le Person, Gabriella Giorgelli, Luciano Pigozzi
Screenplay by: Claude Lelouch
Production Design by:
Cinematography by: Claude Lelouch
Film Editing by: Marie-Claude Lacambre
Costume Design by: Ted Lapidus, Lucie Saint Clair
Makeup Department: Martine Lelouch, Babeth Si Ramdane
Music by: Francis Lai
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: United Artists
Release Date: November 20, 1970
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