User reviews

After reading other reviews and comments on 'Le Vieux Fusil' I see that this film has been vastly misunderstood. Yes it is about revenge but it is above all a love story. It is about the love of a man for his wife and daughter. I watched the movie as a teenager and have not seen it in years but to this day this is the impression it left on me. It is a beautiful love story between two people, and a man who would do anything to avenge the people he loved more than anything. Some scenes are incredibly violent and we can only imagine the atrocities people have gone through during the war. Atrocities that like in this movie make Philippe Noiret's character flip.

Romy Schneider and Philippe Noiret are both magnificent in their roles.

Strong War/drama set in France during WWII with marvelous main cast as Philippe Noiret and Romy Schneider . Montauban in 1944, Julien Dandieu (Philippe Noiret) is a doctor in the local hospital. Frightened by the Nazi army coming Montauban, and occupying the little town , he asks his partner Francois (Jean Bouise ) to led his spouse (Romy Schneider) and daughter in the back country villa where Julien owns an old mansion . Some days later, Julien decided to meet then for the weekend, but the Nazis are already taking the village and the castle . He turns into Revenger Angel when his family is attacked by furious Germans (Joachim Hansen , Robert Hoffman ) , as his wife is fired and daughter is shot. Then he stalks the Nazis and takes the law into his own hands, searching vengeance .

This exciting film contains romantic elements , brooding drama ,suspense , intrigue, thrills and lots of violence. Noiret is top-notch in a fully-formed main role as grief-plagued surgeon becoming avenger and he displays efficiently his old rifle killing mercilessly nasties .It's certainly thrilling , though the morality may be questionable , even in this time, as the spectators were clearly on the Noiret-Julien's side . It has a complex pace by means flashbacks in which are narrated the lovely relationship between the amiable surgeon and the attractive Romy Schneider . Colorful cinematography by Becker , being correctly remastered . Enjoyable musical score including a sensible leitmotif is composed and conducted by Francois De Roubaix .The motion picture is stunningly written and directed by by Robert Enrico . He was a good professional who directed interesting films as ¨Jailsbird vacation¨ , ¨Rum Runners¨, ¨The wise guys¨ and his masterpiece ¨The adventurers¨ and of course ¨The old fusil¨ . Rating : 7,5 , better than average. The film will appeal to French cinema lovers

> This is where we may wonder why it has taken so much to rouse this peaceful man;

Everybody has his own threshold of awakening; and this film is actually the story of awakening - this is why the whole first part showing his peaceful life, even during the war, up until he is led to his threshold, and so the contrast between that and merciful killer that he becomes, becomes even more powerful.

> The next question we find ourselves asking is why he is content to go up against men armed with pistols, rifles,machine guns, grenades and flame-throwers with only a shotgun rather than picking off one man and appropriating his weaponry.

The best weapon is the weapon you are used to, the weapon you trust. Plus, this old gun together with the old castle and their old owner, become one collective weapon against the invaders. Not wise to take one piece out.

On June 10th 1944, less than two weeks before the Normandy landings, almost the entire population of the village of Oradour-sur-Glane was slaughtered by members of a Waffen SS division. That atrocity is not reconstructed here but forms the basis of Robert Enrico's film.

Surgeon Julien Dandieu arrives at the village where he grew up, the castle of which he happens to own, only to find a scene of mass carnage in which his beloved wife and daughter have perished. His unbearable grief soon gives way to a natural, all-consuming hatred for the Nazi perpetrators who have taken over the castle. Taking advantage of his intimate knowledge of the castle with all its hidden passages and armed only with a double-barrelled shotgun used for hunting wild boar, he sets about stalking his human prey and exacting retribution. The method by which he disposes of the highest ranking SS officer is singularly appropriate.

Suffice to say this is a grim, harrowing and violent film, at times graphically so but has great tension, momentum and first class editing.

It is in effect an early 'vigilante' movie but is well balanced by being a love story also. The use of flashbacks to show the domestic bliss of Dandieu, his wife Clara and their daughter is dramatically very effective.

As Clara the wondrous Romy Schneider once again touches the heartstrings.

The film proved extremely popular with French audiences who had never seen anything like it before. Despite its merits I am not certain that it deserved to win the César for Best Picture although its emotive subject matter no doubt helped and the competition that year was not that stiff. I also found the jaunty title music of Enrico's preferred composer Francois de Roubaix rather incongruous. Pleased to say that the superlative Philippe Noiret in his second collaboration with this director, was awarded the first of his two Césars and a Donatello for his riveting performance as Dandieu. Also of note are Jean Bouise giving his customary understated performance as a family friend and the excellent Joachim Hansen who has succeeded in making the SS officer more than just a one-dimensional nasty Nazi.

This piece, which established Enrico as a director, mixes the genres of war, action, romance and it must be said, exploitation.

We must not lose track of the horrific historical event that inspired the film which acts as a distressing reminder of the barbaric cruelty to which humans can sink.

Moving, thrilling, upsetting, The Old Gun is a piece of art with beautiful performances. I love the pace, which adds to the suspense and helps the viewer empathize with the main character, played by Philippe Noiret who slowly becomes the people who he is chasing. Above all, a beautiful love story that take place at the wrong time and the wrong place. If you are interested in movies that star the icon Philippe Noiret, that most people would know from the Italian classic cinema Paradiso, then you should watch some of his earlier work like this French master piece. The scene that really defines this intense movie is when Philippe Noiret kills a German officer from the other side of a mirror. it's an example of how this film is a piece of pure cinema and the dialogue kept to a minimum.

Raw, tragic, and incredibly poetic, a direct blow to the heart. A low-budget film that masterfully plays all the best cinematic cards and reaches a supremely lyrical level. A masterful performance by an exceptional cast, portraying well-constructed roles and using montages built through continuous flashbacks that skillfully blend highly dramatic moments with poetic ones. Memory, recollection, personal experiences of an ordinary citizen who takes revenge into his own hands.

The protagonist, far from being painted as a heroic and superhuman Rambo (Stallone's "Rambo" film would come only 8 years later, undoubtedly drawing from this), is an everyday man in an extraordinary situation overwhelmed by events.

A microhistory, like many untold ones, that reminds us of the horrors of wars and the power of love that can overcome even in a tragic way. A tragicomedy, like Greek tragedies can be, with an ending that is not happy but somehow comforting. It makes us love the character in all his tragicness and it makes us accompany him, on the dark side of revenge.

Taking place in France, just after the allied invasion of Normandy, this is the story of a successful hospital surgeon whom takes revenge on a group of SS soldiers. The movie is a combination of events taking place at that specific moment and flashbacks to prior (more happy) times.

This movie made in France and released in 1975. The acting is pretty decent, with the popular actress Romy Schneider - whom gained worldwide popularity due to her iconic role as "Sissi" - in one of the lead roles. I think that her role in this movie may have had a very positive effect on the popularity (IMDb rating) of this movie.

The fact that this movie was produced in the 70's, gives it the advantage that much equipment from WW2 is still easily available. What is especially interesting to see, is the use of cars that are powered by so-called "wood gas generators". Not to be confused by "gas vans" that were used by germans to kill prisoners, "wood gas generators" are systems whereby a combustion engines - whom normally run on petrol or diesel fuels - use wood / charcoal / coal as fuel. The latter are thereby "gassified" allowing making it fit to use instead of petrol. This movie shows quite a number of vehicles equipped with several variants of gas generators. After a country was occupied by Germany, which caused petrol fuel to be prioritized for the Nazi forces, civilians converted their cars by equipping it with a gas generator. Closer to the end of WW2, they were also seen on german (military) vehicles, due to shortages and low availability of petrol fuel. Such gas generator systems are quite rare to see in a WW2 movie. This movie however, shows quite a number of vehicles, with systems on top of the roof (large cylinders) or variants that are installed right next to the engine.

I personally found this movie just acceptable: I score it at 5.8/10, resulting in an IMDb rating of 6 stars. I am personally not biased by having Romy Schneider feature in one of the main roles. Thing that I did not like are the regular flashbacks and most annoyingly the unrealistic manner in which the doctor is able to fight against a group of SS soldiers. If you are open to "James Bond"-like fiction, where you always see someone win in the most impossible of situations, I think that you may like this movie a lot better. This may explain the difference between my rating and the relative high average rating of 7.5 stars.

The story telling is utterly convincing, and because of the flashback technique, we feel the emotion of the main character (Julien) as the drama unfolds. The suspense is keen and mounting. The viewer keeps asking with increasing intensity: is this what I would do in Julien's position? His mistakes make us groan, his successes make us cheer. His pathos makes us cry.

To paraphrase Chekhov's "One must never place a loaded rifle on the stage if it isn't going to go off (as) it's wrong to make promises you don't mean to keep", one should never hide an old gun if it isn't going to be used with purpose in the second half of the movie.

Many people have already made clear why this movie is so incredibly good. It is definitely worth watching.

There is one thing however that bothers me in this movie. Without spoiling, you will see that this man cares so much more about his wife than his daughter. This is awfully unrealistic for the hero in a movie, but necessary seen the famous actress playing the wife (they had to give her more screen time).

Other than that, the action is great for its time. It is a realistic revenge story, so don't expect Jason Statham killing over a 100 Nazi's in half an hour. This movie keeps it real and touches your heart, don't watch it for the action.

It was introduced at a time when cultural products were severely barren, and now it is full of feelings.

Sadly the reviewer did not watch properly the movie : 1. Noiret/Dandieu does not arrive "just in time" to see his family killed : he imagineswhat has happened (perhaps one or two days before; unclear).

2. The girl is his daughter; not Romy/Clara's I did not plan to write more but I am forced to write at least 1O lines (silly rule).

This is a movie I first saw when I was 12 or 13.

It made a lasting impression on me.

I love its pace, the acting (Noiret in particular), Romy's beauty, charm and accent.

And the music by François de Roubaix.

Nice movie please watch. You can watch second time also.