Marie-Octobre

Dix anciens résistants français se réunissent dans une pièce afin de découvrir lequel d’entre eux a du sang sur les mains et a trahi les autres quinze ans auparavant. Et le traître peut être n’importe qui, ce qui ouvre le bal d’un petit jeu bien paranoïaque. Les dialogues tranchants superbement écrits évoquent un pendant français de 12 Hommes en colère ; ici aussi, on débat sur la culpabilité et l’innocence, sur le pardon et la mise à mort, le condamné étant cependant toujours inconnu. Mais le cours des choses change rapidement. Marie-Octobre est un drame intimiste remarquablement conçu, joué et réalisé qui prend aux tripes. (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)