cinemajesty Film Review: "Le mouton enragé" (1974)Second collaboration of Romy Schneider (1938-1982) & Jean-Louis Trintignant, who's screen chemistry undeniable becomes evident in one of the most provocative picture of 1970s directed by Michel Deville, sending his leading character by the name of Nicolas Mallet into a feminine realm of the senses through contemporary Parisian society. Triggerd by the researching writer, the character of Claude Fabre, portrayed with undermining vicious by actor Jean-Pierre-Cassel (1932-2007), Nicolas transforms from a shy bank clerk into women-intercoursing beast, seeking the the social benefit with any encounter and pushing the limits with charm and fox-like intuition to run through a labyrinth of moral pitfalls, daring educational slaps in direction of actress Jane Birkin, who delivers a visual witnessing of a young lost woman finding to herself in treaties by a man, who clearly brought up with the skill of evasion. Director Michel Deville takes a script based on a novel by Roger Blondel makes exciting, erotic and socially controversial, creating a timeless piece of cinema open for discovery.© 2017 Felix Alexander Dausend (Cinemajesty Entertainments LLC)

lazarillo A middle-age man (Jean-Louis Tritignant) picks up a pretty young woman (Jane Birkin). When he finds out she's a prostitute, he slaps her into submissiveness and then "rapes" her. She ends up adoring him for it, and he discovers his strange powers over beautiful women.Encouraged by his scheming friend (Jean-Pierre Cassel), a crippled, unsuccessful writer, he uses his seductive powers to seduce the wife of a business associate (Romy Schneider), and embarks on a campaign of shady land deals and political intrigue.This movie works best if you take it as a satire or absurdist comedy. The character's strange power over incredibly beautiful woman is especially ludicrous. Most men would volunteer their left testicle to sleep with Jane Birkin and their right one to sleep with Romy Schneider; they would then be left castratti if they went on to seduce the likes of Florinda Bolkan (as a bisexual political power broker)and Estelle Blain (as a vapid movie star) as Tritigant's character does here. In one of the funniest scenes, the hero has to, in order to close a deal, either sleep with a wealthy woman who is "older than God" or marry an 18-year-old heiress. Hilariously, the young girl is eager to jump into bed with him, but refuses to consider marriage, so he has to make the ultimate sacrifice.This is definitely a very black comedy which takes a lot of tragic and violent turns at the end, but in typical French (i.e. decidedly non-Hollywood)fashion it refuses to provide a tidy moral at the end or make its hero too sympathetic. As for the literal translation of the French title, "The Angry Sheep", I'm still trying to figure that one out.

talltale-1 LOVE AT THE TOP--the utterly wrongheaded American title for the superb French film "Le Mouton Enrage" (which means, I think, The Rabid Sheep)-- is such an original movie, the fact that it dates back to 1974 seems all the more astounding. This film was far ahead of its time; even by today's highest standards, it accomplishes things that seem rich and new. Filmed by the hugely underrated director Michel Deville, it rather defies description in the way it combines social critique, comedy, mystery, love, sex and satire into one wholly original mix--leaving for the end a major but subtle surprise to render all that has gone before suddenly sad and more understandable. The cast is splendid, ditto the writing and theme. But it's Deville's delicious tone, keeping you constantly off-balance but enrapt, that pushes this "lost" film to a very high level indeed. (The written interview with the director on the "Special Features" section of the DVD is definitely worth reading if you have the time.)

Tom DeFelice Nicolas Mallet is a failure. A teller in a bank, everyone walks all over him. Then his friend, a writer who's books no one likes, has a plan to change his life. Our hero tells his boss he is quitting. He intends to spend the rest of his life making a great deal of money and sleeping with a great many women. And he manages to do just that.If it were not for the amount of death (murder/suicide/natural causes) in the film, this would be a farce. There are numerous jabs at marriage, politics, journalism and...life.Jean-Louis Trintignant is a likable amoral rogue. Romy Schneider is at her most appealing. Definitely worth a look.