Customer Reviews
Extremely well-done and gripping - By: Sara Turansky, 02 Dec 2008 
My husband, being a Moroccan national, understood the background & events depictedin the film. I, being an American without a strong groundingin world history, hadn't even heard of Ben Barka, much to my shame after viewing the film.
Very little violence is depictedin the film, & yet you can experience it through Georges Figon, the dead narrator's reactions. Specifically, I am referring to the beating that Ben Barka endured at the hands of the Moroccan Secret Service.
The 30-minute interview with writer & director, Serge Le Peron, clarified any questions or confusions that I felt with my limited backgroundin Franco-Moroccan politics. It does not surprise me that the CIA had their handin the "affair," as I know to what extent governments world-wide will go to quash people who speak the truth.
I highly recommend this film for the unique style, the backdrop of Paris (particularly the walks right next to the Seine), & for learning about one of the leaders of the Third World who worked to bring all of the "South" (Africa, Asia, South America) together to fight the exploitation from the North (Europe & North America).
The ending is stark; you realize that the Ben Barka assassination was far-reaching, i.e., no one was safe.
Confusing plot - By: Brendan O. Clarke, 25 Feb 2008 
This political thriller (French) recalls the true story of Georges Figon, a French movie producer who witnesses the assassination of Moroccan Ben Barka by French secret Service.
I know this because I read it on the back of the dvd boxin my local dvd library (VOGUE VIDEO Edinburgh dvds are £1.50 per night). The front of the dvd box is cluttered with 5* reviews from well established movie magazines.
However I found myself completely lostin this movie as I do not have a degreein Franco-Moroccan political history. I had absolutely no idea what was going onin the labyrinth plot; the director foolishly decided to use a Rashomon-style triple narrative to recall main events. This lack of contextual explanation meant I knew or cared why the films events took place.
Avoid.
Disquieting political drama - By: H. A. James, 24 May 2007 
Charles Berling's performance as Georges Figon is outstanding & shows a twitchy, nerve-wracked, delusional chancer who becomes fatally drawn into an assassination conspiracy. Jean-Pierre Leaud as the film director, Georges Franju, withered as an old fig, is also admirable. Indeed, all the principal actors work well together & provide a strength which does much to hold together a movie that sometimes trips itself up by attempting to offer too many layers of a story simultaneously. However the appearance of Parisin the mid-1960's is effectively evoked, as are its political tensions, & the whole is underpinned by a very good jazz score.
