Le Grand Chantage

"The cat's in the bag and the bag's in the river..." The tabloid manager only lets foreign tongues moisten his heels as long as they’re useful. And the ambitious worker in the field? He’ll soon find out who’s in the bag with the cat. Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis are both phenomenal. While Curtis rides the same "positive" wave as in The Boston Strangler and often speaks only from behind the shoulder of his mentor in a sycophantic position, Lancaster plays an amoral puppet master who, despite ruthlessly burning everyone around him, evokes sympathy in the final scene with his fingers on the door. After all, both characters deserve contempt with a touch of disdain. It’s a maelstrom of cynicism that might not sweep everyone away, but it timelessly depicts the danger of these currents. (19/03/2024)

A cruel film with cruel characters. It's as if there isn't a single character who is truly kind. And if there is one, they will be crushed by the company of the others. Burt Lancaster in the role of J.J. Hunsecker is unbeatable and literally gives you chills, and he actually speaks quite calmly most of the time. But it’s what he says that gives me chills. A very chilling film that references the great era of film noir classics. (22/01/2015)