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The Outsider ( Le Marginal )
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An Entertaining Distraction
Review date: 2008-07-19 Rating: 6 out of 10
I do agree with almost all of what is written in the first review, apart from the last line that is. I would now like to take this opportunity to explain things from the point of view of a Belmondo fan.
Jean-Paul Belmondo films are almost never shown in this country, so it is a great treat to see him in anything that is even half decent. This film is good but not perfect. It is a cop movie not an epic and ever since 'Dirty Harry' I feel all movies of this genre are somewhat similar so it is easy to find fault with "the tough cop that does things his own way", formula. There are some great action scenes and as confirmed by the director in the audio commentary that accompanies this film - Belmondo did all his own stunts in this movie - even injuring himself when he was thrown off the windscreen/bonnet of a car (the first action scene in the film). This is not unique to 'Le Marginal' as he has always been something of a daredevil in his films and it is fair to say he was doing this more than twenty years before Jakie Chan became synonymous with this approach to film making. Other things worth pointing out is that the theme music is composed by Ennio Morricone and that the film contains a great car chase; once again he did not rely on a stunt driver to stand in for him during this sequence.
This DVD is produced by StudioCanal and is for the French market so English is the bonus language. There are great features like the original trailer and an audio commentary by the director Jacques Deray (Borsalino and Co.,Flic Story). The commentary is in French so it can only be appreciated by those who speak the language. As for the American actor Henry Silva being dubbed - yes, this is true in the English version but as explained by the director, he wanted the audience to see the French words coming from Silva's mouth as it was too difficult to get a perfect synchronicity if he had spoken his mother tongue. So, in the French language version of the film Henry Silva is not dubbed. In all, 'Le Marginal' (The Outsider) is an entertaining distraction.
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Reviews
No Dirty Harry
Review date: 2007-12-23 Rating: 2 out of 10
Belmondo is a tough cop. He goes after a big-time drug dealer (played by Henry Silva, normally a great villain - see "Sharky's Machine"; but here he is clearly dubbed, and because of that he lacks his usual charisma). He goes to the scuzziest places of Paris and Marseilles, asks for some names, beats up some people, gets the names, goes to more scuzzy places, asks for more names, beats up more people, etc. The whole movie is punch after punch after punch. It seems that the people who made it had no other ambition than to create the French equivalent of "Dirty Harry". Belmondo, who was 50 here, does perform some good stunts at the beginning; apart from those, "Le Marginal" is a violent, episodic, trite, shallow and forgettable cop movie.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Pierre Vernier
Jean Herman
Carlos Sotto Mayor
Jean-Paul Belmondo
Henry Silva
Creators:
Jean-Paul Belmondo (Primary Contributor)
Jean Herman (Primary Contributor)
Jean Herman (Writer)
Xaver Schwarzenberger (Cinematographer)
Jacques Deray (Writer)
Albert Jurgenson (Editor)
Alain Belmondo (Producer)
Michel Audiard (Writer)
Director(s):
Recording label: StudioCanal
Manufacturer: StudioCanal
EAN: 3259130219463
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Import, PAL,
Release date: 2006-05-09
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 97 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1983-10-26
Language: German (Original Language)
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: French (Original Language)
Language: Italian (Original Language)