Voici le temps des assassins

VOICI LE TEMPS DES ASSASSINS is a pitch-black variation on an almost iconic motif of film noir: the multiply reflected projection of the innocent-seductive-threatening woman who, like Nemesis, sows discord among men. Châtelin (Jean Gabin) runs a popular restaurant in Les Halles de Paris, he is good-natured and single, respectable and wealthy. Having taken in Gérard (Gérard Blain) like a son, he is financing his studies. His wife (Lucienne Bogaert) has not been seen since she left him and is apparently dead. But one day, their daughter Catherine (Danièle Delorme) appears as a shy, cloying angel, and gradually turns both Gérard and Châtelin’s heads. (re/fl)