Thanks to sheer good luck I found ' Cavale ' in a UK box set brought out by Tartan Videos. This box set and even the French one are no longer available, and yet judging by ' Cavale ' which was chosen by Tartan as the first to see of Lucas Belvaux's amazing trilogy of films, where it should have been the second to see, I can I think state that it was on its own a masterpiece. What is a masterpiece ? By my definition it is something artistically created that astounds by its seeming originality. The story is simple and profoundly complex, as it shows how high ideals of how society should in ethical fairness be run, and yet dares to equally show how revolting against an unjust society can lead to bloodshed and nearly always destruction. Lucas Belvaux plays the lead role as a revolutionary on the run who tries to link up with his former revolutionaries only to find yet more brutal killings in the name of justice and final disillusionment. Despite his escape from prison, and a killer, he is a sympathetic character and this is clearly shown in a gruelling scene where he helps a woman to live instead of dying due to drug addiction. The film is shot in a saddening brown colour which accentuates the dulled world he is now in, with occasional blasts of colour when he senses he is near some sort of deliverance. I was tested to the limit by the ending and hoped against hope it could have been otherwise. Belvaux in his relentless vision of inevitability destroyed my hopes. Maybe I am right but I sense that the UK and the USA have not done enough to acknowledge what an incredible work this is. And another reviewer wisely says it is akin to ' Citizen Kane ' and ' Rashomon. ' I totally agree, but it makes me wonder why it is not as revered as those films made by Welles and Kurosawa ? Last but not least the acting is superb, and Belvaux did right in playing the lead ( I read at first reluctantly ) and in company with Catherine Frot and Ornella Muti the film shines a bright light on our beleaguered world. See it. A true revelation.
Review of Cavale
