Trintignant is always a pleasure to watch, certainly one the best actors French cinema ever produced, so I was very interested to see LES PASSAGERS (1977), which ran in English-speaking countries with a dubbed version entitled THE INTRUDER. I guess the latter was Bernard Fresson, who is also very good in his part as a psychopathic killer- The character played by Fresson has apparently had a relationship with Mireille Darc, recently married to Trintignant, and the latter is returning home in the company of her son (his stepson, therefore).
Is Fresson the young boy's father? The film does not explain that point, and that is a big minus. What is clear is that Fresson and Darc were lovers in the past. In his schizophrenia, Fresson thinks he is having a conversation with Darc is in his Ford truck as he pursues and then attacks Trintignant and stepson in their little Renault (great publicity for the elastique, fantastique model of 1976, which probably paid for the picture).
The chase sequences are well done but I was not convinced that Trintignant's character was so financially poor that he could not afford to hire or even buy a second hand vehicle, instead of driving some 300 miles with a child, in the night, without a front windscreen, in very cold winter conditions, and in a clearly unsafe vehicle, after being so brutally bashed about.
Although Adolfo Celi is OK in his role as Italian police chief, he seems easily sidetracked by irrelevant considerations, such as whether Trintignant's character was an extreme rightwinger, or member of OAS, to determine why he is being chased by someone he never met before. Celi is also much too easily convinced that the attacker was killed in a vehicle accident.
But if Italian police officers generally look unfit for their profession, their French counterparts win hands down in terms of sheer stupidity and lack of professionalism, and Fresson beats Trintignant to Darc, possibly forces intercourse (Trintignant does not seem to get to know about it), and then there is a shootout, and, finally, the main concern is where the kid has disappeared to.
It is a pity that the ending is so wayward and unbelievable, because for about three quarters, LES PASSAGERS is quite engrossing in spite of the above listed credibility holes.
Direction is not particularly inspired and seems to borrow from Steven Spielberg's DUEL (1971), the difference being that the pursuing vehicle is driven by a deranged human, whereas in DUEL for a long time it seems that the truck has a murderous will of its own, and you never get to see more than the human driver's arm.
LES PASSAGERS' cinematography is good in parts, especially the chase sequences, and unremarkable in others.
Trintignant and Fresson are definitely the film's greatest assets and they are well worth watching.
