Thursday, September 26, 2024

Un linceul n'a pas de poches (1974)

 International English title: No Pockets in a Shroud

Based on the novel by Horace McCoy, first published in 1937.

A newspaper reporter gets fed up with having his stories censored by his boss, and decides to start his own publication, a magazine. He specializes in denouncing the evil deeds of the powerful: bribery in sports, the illegal (and fatal) abortionist practices of a conservative deputy, and the liaison between the mayor and a teenage boy, which entailed the murder of the latter's father. This last case involves several powerful people, who set out to stop the journalist by any means necessary.

Drama with a very serious subject matter. I suspect that it must feel a little dated in France, where corruption doesn't seem to pay anymore, and conservatism has lost its hegemony, but of course I could be wrong. Anyway, it's not a great movie, but it has some great sequences. The plotline is very complex, and the film is a bit long, with some parts dragging somewhat.

Rating: 50

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