L'Homme qui Ment

The Man Who Lies
Muz, Který Lze / L'Uomo che Mente

France/Czechoslovakia 1968
produced by
Samy Halfon, Jan Tomaskovic for Ceskoslovensky Film, Como Film, Lux Film
directed by Alain Robbe-Grillet
starring Jean-Louis Trintignant, Ivan Mistrík, Zuzana Kocúriková, Sylvie Turbová, Jozef Cierny, Jozef Króner, Dominique Prado, Dusan Blaskovic, Catherine Robbe-Grillet, Július Vasek, Ivan Letko
written by Alain Robbe-Grillet, music by Michel Fano

review by
Mike Haberfelner

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After the war, Boris Varissa (Jean-Louis Trintignang) returns to his hometown. During the war, he has fought in the resistance movement side by side with his childhood freind Jean Robin (Ivan Mistrik), and now he wants to bring his family news from him. But the story Boris tells changes several times, for example he tells the story of Jean's daring rescue from police custody on one day, the next Jean lured his friends into a trap, yet later Jean himself was lured into a trap - but by whom? By Boris, as he at one point admits, by the pharmacist, as Boris later claims, or by someone else entirely?

Later, Boris claims Jean has already died, fell to his death in a min while he and Boris ran from the enemy ... but it might be that Boris has pushed him, and when Jean's dad (Jozef Cierny) dies the exact way as Jean and Boris wants to movie in with Jean's wife Laura (Zuzana Kocúriková), his sister Sylvia (Sylvie Turbová) and his sexy maid Maria (Sylvie Bréal), that looks more than a little suspicous.

Then Jean, long thought dead, returns and takes Boris's story apart, and suddenly Boris finds himself on the run again.

Basically, L'Homme qui Ment is an attempt to tell a story which loses itself repeatedly, that changes during one single phrase, that constantly casts doubt on its own narrative. But while the film seems to lose its story repeatedly, it doesn't lose itself, perfectly carries the vagueness of its plot by enigmatic editing that allows for sudden location changes within one scene or substitution of names and characters - but while this sounds like nothing more than confusing (and probably is, too), Alain Robbe-Grillet the director makes a coherent yet unique piece of cinema out of the mess Alain Robbe-Grillet the writer has left him with - and actually, this is quite a fascinating movie, recommended!

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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