Laissez bronzer les cadavres

Having just appropriated almost a quarter of a ton of gold bullion, “Rhino” (Stéphane Ferrara) and his gang of hoodlums know they are going to have to lie low for a few months until the dust settles and they can smelt the whole lot down (and not into Eiffel Towers, neither) and literally liquidate their ill-gotten asset. The snag proves to be, though, that their hideaway has also attracted some other unexpected occupants. Namely eccentric writer “Bernier” (Marc Barbé) who has his stimulating and glamorous moll “Luce” (Elina Löwensohn) in tow, and there are also a couple of trigger-happy gendarmes nearby too. Rapidly, this hitherto peaceful island begins to become an emotionally and sexually charged location where all we really need is some Ennio Morricone music and a guest appearance from Eli Wallach. That’s maybe the issue I had with this. Although the photography is gorgeous, the sea azure and the house it’s very own little fortress, this is really just an amalgam of so many films that have been done before - and better. It’s actually too short to do very much in the way of character development and so has an almost video game feel to it as the tensions mount and we find out who is the better shot. Moreover, it hasn’t any subtlety. It’s in your face fury right from the start, there’s very little by way of humour and neither the acting nor the dialogue really do enough to distinguish this in any way nor make us care whether anyone survives or not. At least there’s the aptly named “Brute” (Bernie Bonvoisin) to liven things up but overall I was really quite disappointed with the lack of imagination and the sheer force of this film.