Although perhaps not quite on the same level as director Costa-Gavras' other scathing critiques of the abuse of power, this still has a great deal to recommend it in terms of its superlative adaptation from the novel of Hervé Villeré by Jorge Semprún and a cast comprising some of France's most distinguished actors. It lacks of course the 'star' attraction of Yves Montand and if you blink you will miss his uncredited appearance as a soup-eating militiaman. The overall pacing is measured but Gavras' regular editor Francois Bonnet maintains the momentum whilst the excellent score is by Eric de Marsan whose music had contributed so much to Melville's earlier 'L'Armée des Ombres'.
During the trial of Marechal Philippe Pétain the prosecutor referred to the 'Exceptional Courts' as 'a monstrous institution', a description which no decent human being would dispute. Following the shooting of a German midshipman in the Barbes-Rochechouart Métro by a Communist activist who would later achieve renown as Colonel Fabien, the Nazis had threatened to execute an hundred French hostages, regardless of rank or celebrity. Ostensibly to save French lives and appease his German masters, Pétain instigated the 'section spéciale' to pass sentence of death on a handful of token prisoners classed as 'undesirables' who had previously been given lighter sentences for minor crimes. It only remained to appoint the judges whose major qualifications were ambition, amorality, cowardice or a combination thereof.
This utterly grotesque situation lends itself to the blackest of humour and Gavras does not fall short in this regard, not least in the executioners hanging around the court impatiently awaiting the names of those they are to guillotine. What is most effective however is how the legislative charade and parody of justice are carried out with the most proper ceremony. As Michel Benon, president of the Special Court, Claude Piéplu again excels as the man you love to hate.
Although the film ends by informing us that none of the judges faced sanctions for their activities in fact the Minister of Justice at the time, Joseph Barthélemy, superbly played by veteran Louis Séigner, was tried by the High Court but died of cancer before the end of legal proceedings. The egregious Minister of the Interior, Pierre Pucheu, a chilling portrayal here by Michel Lonsdale, was destined, ironically, to be sentenced by a Special Court and executed by firing squad.
There is some justice after all.
