Very disappointed :(

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Dominique (Marie Dubois) can't stand that Julie (Carole Laure) is with her husband Henri Savin (Yves Montand), who owns a transport company. Dominique follows Julie and jumps of a cliff, in a way that Julie could be blamed, especially when they find a ransom note. But Savin thinks about a way out.You cannot discuss this film without talking about its ending. This film is ALL about its ending. All the reviews are about it. It's the type of ending that evokes discussions. The kind of plot in which you have to accept A LOT of unlikely events as a viewer. I liked it anyway, as the setting is quite wonderful and it feels almost like a film in itself.There are other interesting things though. There's a great deal of attention for the lighting in this film, which is nice. Also, as many others have mentioned, the part of Marie Dubois is terrific. She is so important for the film, that when she is gone from the story, the film collapses a bit. Director Alain Corneau took a chance with his own screenplay. Because what follows is a long and dragging part in the middle. They could of course have chosen to keep her for the whole film, to continue the suspense, but in that way her role wouldn't feel as powerful as it does now, and the story would be more about exploiting the madness until the end, probably more like something like Cape Fear, which is also nice, but the story works better now this way, I think. I rate it 6/10.

I watched this movie in the theater, as a kid, in original time it came out. There were 2 showrooms with daily projections each, every 2 hours, one on odd the other on even hours. Ever since I'm not sure about the ending. Namely, was he really ... BTW those two ..., or he made a deal with those Canadian ..., so everybody would ..., while he ... enjoy ... with his ...Am I expecting too much from this movie? Never the less, it's one of my private cults, and these last couple of lines are just to conform to IMDb minimum No. of lines rule. But it seams they will never get enough of it. Blah , Blah ...

They do not love, that do not show their love.--SHAKESPEARE.Henri S.,a middle-aged man who works in the transport trucks business,is ready to switch from one mistress to another:from a richer one,Dominique (who is also his boss),to a younger,poorer one,Julie Manet (played by Carole Laure ,a Canadian starlet).Dominique doesn't seem ready to accept Henri's leave,on the contrary.She tracks "Julie" and meets her at the "Citadel",somewhere outside the town.The two women fight,Dominique knocks Julie,asks her to leave Henri,offers her money.Julie manages to run off.Dominique kills herself.Dominique's body is found.A cop inquires into her death,and looks inquiringly at Julie,he believes she settled Dominique's hash.Some marks,some witnesses,some paint scratched lead to Julie.Henri inherits ,by Dominique's will,a large sum of her money.He and Julie are both taken to task.They did not kill Dominique,are not responsible for her death;non the less,some things indicate them.On that score,the police suspects Julie.Henri decides to solve this on his own;his innermost thoughts are hidden.He seems to hold off,while he deepens in himself and works up a carefully conceived plan. Henri seems to accuse Julie and to leave her to her own devices;in fact,he gives her a leg up,and paves the way for them getting through.(" No cord or cable can draw so forcibly, or bind so fast, as love can do with only a single thread."--BURTON.)He outwits the cops,and moves heaven and earth to tip the scale.His plan has two steps:first,he does everything to incriminate "Julie Manet",so that he may gain some time,then he plants evidences against himself and drives the policemen to suspect him,so that "Julie Manet" may be released Scot-free,while he leaves France,going the whole hog.He pushes this plan through.In Canada,he works as a trucker.Julie,still in France,gives birth to Henri's child.Henri S. will drink his cup to the lees.The movie gets increasingly good.La Menace's last third (after "Henri" leaves France) is very suspenseful,igneous,uncompromising and intense,it looks like an homage to Clouzot.The climax is violent,it has suspense,bitterness,and strength.Montand is ripping,does himself justice as the gnarled,ungentle Henri and acts keenly.If you are a serious Alain Corneau fan,don't miss this one.

Corneau's career is a bit of a puzzle. He started with thrillers and is now making sombre mood pieces like Nocturne indien and Tous les matins du monde that feature career making performances (see Anne Brochet in the latter). La menace starts off as a tight thriller with a harried Yves Montand trying to balance wife and mistress, loses some momentum in the middle as fumble-foot detective Balmer sniffs around the principals, then picks up for a slam-bang finish in the twisting mountain roads of southern British Columbia.Montand and Carole Laure, the Canadian singer-actress, supply the tension after the sudden death of Marie Dubois (who is the best performer in the picture). Although it's not as good as the classic Série noire with Dewaere, this is a watchable film.