''The Judge and the Assassin'' (french: Le Juge et l'assassin) is a 1976 French

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

film directed by

Bertrand Tavernier Bertrand Tavernier (25 April 1941 – 25 March 2021) was a French director, screenwriter, actor and producer. Life and career Tavernier was born in Lyon, France, the son of Geneviève (née Dumond) and René Tavernier, a publicist and writer, s ...

that stars

Philippe Noiret Philippe Noiret (; 1 October 1930 – 23 November 2006) was a French film actor. Life and career Noiret was born in Lille, France, the son of Lucy (Heirman) and Pierre Noiret, a clothing company representative. He was an indifferent student and ...

Isabelle Huppert Isabelle Anne Madeleine Huppert (; born 16 March 1953) is a French actress. Described as "one of the best actresses in the world", she is known for her portrayals of cold and disdainful characters devoid of morality. She is the recipient of sev ...

Michel Galabru Michel Louis Edmond Galabru (27 October 19224 January 2016) was a French actor. Career Galabru appeared in more than 250 films and worked with directors such as Bertrand Blier, Costa-Gavras, Luc Besson (for ''Subway''), and Jean-Luc Godard. ...

, and Jean-Claude Brialy. Set in France in the 1890s, it shows the capture after a trail of rapes and murders of a possibly deranged ex-soldier, based on the historical

Joseph Vacher Joseph Vacher (16 November 1869 – 31 December 1898) was a French serial killer and necrophile, sometimes known as "The French Ripper" or "L'éventreur du Sud-Est" ("The South-East Ripper") owing to comparisons to the more famous Jack the Rip ...

, and how he is befriended by an ambitious judge who leads him into incriminating himself. The film won two César Awards in 1977.

Plot

Ex-sergeant Bouvier, expelled from the army for fits of violence, shoots at Louise when she rejects him and then puts his last two bullets in his own head. The pair survive, and he is shut away in an asylum. Rejecting civil society on his release, he wanders the countryside raping and murdering isolated teenage children. His crimes are followed closely by Rousseau, a provincial judge, and when Bouvier enters his jurisdiction he is arrested. Pretending to be his friend who will get him off on a plea of insanity, Rousseau humours his whims and encourages him to incriminate himself. In fact, Rousseau is seeking personal glory and career advancement. When Bouvier is condemned, Rousseau's working-class mistress Rose joins the strikers in the town factory. A postscript notes that hundreds more children died in factories than Bouvier's few highly-publicised victims.

Selected cast

as Judge Rousseau *

as Joseph Bouvier *

as Rose, Rousseau's mistress * Jean-Claude Brialy as public prosecutor Villedieu * Renée Faure as Rousseau's mother *

Cécile Vassort Cécile Vassort (born 2 June 1941) is a French film actress. She has starred in 45 films between 1963 and 2001. Partial filmography * ''A Woman in White'' (1965) - La jeune mère * '' Is Paris Burning?'' (1966) - Une jeune femme (uncredited) * ...

as Louise, courted by Bouvier *

Jean-Roger Caussimon Jean-Roger Caussimon (24 July 1918 – 19 October 1985) was a French singer-songwriter and film actor. He appeared in 90 films between 1945 and 1985 but is better known for having worked with poet-singer Léo Ferré. Discography Studio albu ...

as a street singer * Jean Bretonnière as a parliamentary deputy *

Daniel Russo Daniel Russo (born 13 May 1948) is a French film actor, comedian and director. Theater Filmography References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Russo, Daniel 1948 births Living people Male actors from Marseille French male film acto ...

as jailer *

Christine Pascal Christine Pascal (29 November 1953 – 30 August 1996) was a French actress, writer and director. Biography Born in Lyon, Rhône, Pascal made her film debut at 21 in Michel Mitrani's '' Les Guichets du Louvre'' (1974), and began an association w ...

(uncredited) as a striker

References

External links

* * 1976 films 1970s crime comedy-drama films 1970s historical comedy-drama films Films about capital punishment Films directed by Bertrand Tavernier Films featuring a Best Actor César Award-winning performance Films set in the 1890s 1970s French-language films Films with screenplays by Jean Aurenche Films with screenplays by Pierre Bost Films scored by Philippe Sarde French serial killer films French crime comedy-drama films French historical comedy-drama films 1970s serial killer films 1970s French films {{1970s-France-film-stub

Plot

Selected cast

See also

References

External links