The Seventh Juror (1962 French film)

[kjrwe]

I love this film so much that I thought I'd start a thread about it. I did a search and I can't find a thread on it, so here goes.

The movie starts out with a middle-aged pharmacist and his partner resting together. The partner has fallen asleep, and the main character gets up for a walk. During his walk, he stumbles upon an attractive young woman sunbathing topless in an isolated area. Feeling sexually frustrated, he attempts to kiss her. She rejects him and he strangles her. Afterwards, he realizes that he had committed murder and he decides to act as if though nothing out of the ordinary had happened. When the young lady's partner is arrested for the crime, he (main character) is selected to be on the jury, to defend the accused.

Great film, well paced, excellent dialogue, terrific glimpse into human nature, and a final minute which really came as a surprise to me. However, this isn't one of those films which relies heavily on the ending. It offers a lot during its (roughly) 100 minute run, and the ending makes it even more memorable.

Nice soundtrack, too.

Highly recommended!

[cigar joe]

it's always good to give us a source, how did you watch it cable, DVD, etc.,?                                         

[noirjoe]

I totally agree with your review. This is an excellent film and I've watched it several times.

[titoli]

This one hangs between boredom and ridicule. BB a strangler? Give me a break! Why not casting De Funès, then? At least it would have been funnier: BB couldn't strangle a old hen, let alone a young woman. But that is not the worst part, the problem comes with the trial where BB plays juror number 12, unfortunately not in the jury room but in front of all the magistrates, with a prosecutor who is nothing short of a buffoon and a lawyer who is apparently payed for doing nothing (and of course you have a MD who didn't examine her nails to find traces of the killer's skin, apparently she didn't struggle but consented to be strangled without opposing resistance). But apart from these niceties, which could be tolerated if the movie could be fast moving as TAM (where there are also such liberties with logic, but the pace being much faster are easily passed upon) here the filmakers were not satisfied with making a thriller, but wanted to give relevance by letting him ruminate on wasted time, opportunities, lost youth and whatever. As if that weren't enough there's the heavy, predictable indictement of the small town's (or about) powers-to-be, all caring about keeping up a respectable front. So the end comes quite logical and far from unexpected, earning this crap a generous 4/10. Still an inkling of what this could have been comes toward the end when BB tries to convince people of his culpability, not being believed: that could (and should) have been the point around which to build the movie.

[titoli]

Oh, I forgot the source:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3dXitD25SE&t=98s

[kjrwe]

I totally agree with your review. This is an excellent film and I've watched it several times.

There's just one thing: I found it odd that the main character didn't even attempt to rape his victim. He tried to kiss her, but I thought that he would go much further with her. After all, he had a golden opportunity. No one was around. Anyhow...

[dave jenkins]

Still an inkling of what this could have been comes toward the end when BB tries to convince people of his culpability, not being believed: that could (and should) have been the point around which to build the movie.

That is the most interesting part of the movie, but its not enough on which to base an entire film. Not without more killing. But then you'd end up with something like Coup de torchon, which got made anyway.

I like the trial scene, probably because it's so different from how US trials work. Also the dynamic is interesting, with BB taking control and duping the professionals whilst simultaneously his wife (not his partner, kjrwe!) figures everything out. Her gaze is what the film is really about.

[titoli]

Her gaze is what the film is really about.

Again with gazes? After Marisa Berenson? And Gail Russell?    

[kjrwe]

...
I like the trial scene, probably because it's so different from how US trials work. Also the dynamic is interesting, with BB taking control and duping the professionals whilst simultaneously his wife (not his partner, kjrwe!) figures everything out. Her gaze is what the film is really about.

When did I refer to his wife as his partner? I never mentioned her at all in my opening post.

Her gaze was absolutely priceless. Great acting on her part!

[kjrwe]

I was thinking about this film the other day.

I'm completely convinced that this society didn't really WANT the real killer to be found. They had an obvious suspect and this was good enough for them.

The priest (to whom the killer confessed) phoned to say that he got a confession, but they dismissed it as nonsense. Then the court refused to check the victim's fingernails for traces of the killer's skin. Later, the killer confessed and no one believe him.  What a society! Geez.

Excellent film. I look forward to watching it many, many times in the future. 

[kjrwe]

I watched it again tonight. I couldn't help myself.

Even if that nasty community had wanted to find the killer, it would have been pretty much impossible, because the killer had a number of people who thought that they could give him an alibi (and they were believed, too).

Sadly, this was a society which was happy to put the blame on someone who really wasn't part of the team, so to speak.

By the way, has anyone else here had a chance to see this recently? If so, I hope you'll post reviews! 

[kjrwe]

...and after roughly a 4-month hiatus, I decided to revisit this movie. Seems like this film gets better each time I see it.

I won't keep bumping up this thread over and over again. One last time now and I'll leave it alone. It's such a good film that I just have to promote it. 

The only thing that I can't seem to understand is why, at the start of the film when the murder takes place, the killer didn't attempt to rape the young woman. Seems to me that this type of crime usually starts out with rape, then murder.

[cigar joe]

...and after roughly a 4-month hiatus, I decided to revisit this movie. Seems like this film gets better each time I see it.

I won't keep bumping up this thread over and over again. One last time now and I'll leave it alone. It's such a good film that I just have to promote it. 

The only thing that I can't seem to understand is why, at the start of the film when the murder takes place, the killer didn't attempt to rape the young woman. Seems to me that this type of crime usually starts out with rape, then murder.

How did you watch it? Youtube, DVD?

[dave jenkins]

I don't know what he's watching, but there is a French Blu-ray with English subs you can get.

[kjrwe]

I know that some folks here are curious about where people are getting these movies. Some people might not want to respond because they might not be doing it completely legally. Not everyone will admit in writing that they're downloading films.  A post on the net is as good as a written confession.

All I can say truthfully is that I have never downloaded a film and that I have no idea how to even download a film. That's the absolute truth.

I'll just leave it at that.