Cartouche (film)

Cartouche
Cartouche
Directed by	Philippe de Broca
Written by	Daniel Boulanger; Philippe de Broca; Charles Spaak
Produced by	Georges Dancigers; Alexandre Mnouchkine
Starring	Jean-Paul Belmondo; Claudia Cardinale
Cinematography	Christian Matras
Edited by	Laurence Méry-Clark
Music by	Georges Delerue
Distributed by	Films Ariane/Filmsonor Productions/Franco London Films; Embassy Pictures (USA)
Release date	March 7, 1962;
Running time	114 minutes
Countries	France; Italy
Language	French
Box office	3,610,412 admissions (France)

Cartouche is a 1962 French adventurer film directed by Philippe de Broca and starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Claudia Cardinale.^[2]

Plot

In the 18th century, Louis Dominique Bourguignon is working with Malichot's gang but their ways are too 'unethical' for him. He hides out from Malichot and joins the army where he and his two new friends survive by hiding out on the battlefield. Together, they rob the general of his gold. Fleeing, they stop at an inn where they meet Venus, a beautiful gypsy who has been taken prisoner. He rescues her and she joins his gang. Returning to Paris, Bourguignon creates his own gang, acting under the name of Cartouche with most of Malichot's gang joining him. They make audacious robberies of the rich and distribute the loot to the poor. Thus, Cartouche attracts the people's sympathies, Venus's love, and hatred from Malichot and the authorities. Malichot goes to the police to betray Cartouche but Cartouche can escape all the traps they set for him - except the entrapments of love. Eventually, the police use this against him and set a trap while he has a tryst with Venus in the countryside. He is captured but his men ambush the guards as they lead him away. In the scuffle that follows, Cartouche is saved by Venus who sacrifices her life to save him from harm. Cartouche and his men place Venus's body in an expensive carriage they stole earlier from a nobleman and roll the carriage into a lake. As the carriage slowly sinks, Cartouche tells his men to disperse as he vows to avenge the death of his beloved Venus - a way that he anticipates will lead him sooner or later to the gallows.

Cast

Jean-Paul Belmondo - Louis-Dominique Bourguignon alias Cartouche
Claudia Cardinale - Vénus
Jess Hahn - La Douceur
Marcel Dalio - Malichot
Jean Rochefort - La Taupe
Philippe Lemaire - Gaston de Ferrussac
Noël Roquevert - the recruiting sergeant
Odile Versois - Isabelle de Ferrussac
Jacques Charon - the colonel
Lucien Raimbourg - the maréchal
Jacques Balutin - Capucine, the monk
Pierre Repp - the Marquis of Griffe
Jacques Hilling - the hotel keeper
Paul Préboist - a gendarme
René Marlic - Petit Oncle, the inn keeper

Production

The shooting took place from July 17 to October 6, 1961 in Béziers, Ermenonville and Pézenas. Other locations were Aveyron, Guermantes, Lagny-sur-Marne and Senlis. The film sets were designed by François de Lamothe, and Rosine Delamare was responsible for the costumes.

Reception

The film was a massive success at the French box office.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b Box Office information for film at Box Office Story
^ "Cartouche". unifrance.org. Retrieved 2014-02-18.

External links

Cartouche at IMDb
Cartouche at AllMovie
Cartouche^{[permanent dead link]} at Le Film Guide

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[box-1] Box Office information for film at Box Office Story

[2] "Cartouche". unifrance.org. Retrieved 2014-02-18.

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