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Choice of Arms

Choice of Arms (Le Choix des armes)

Movie · 1981 · 15 people

Alain Corneau directed Choice of Arms (French: Le Choix des armes), a French crime drama released in 1981. It sits in the gangster-film tradition, blending crime and drama, runs about 135 minutes in French, and puts its weight on people rather than on action. Yves Montand, Catherine Deneuve and Gérard Depardieu take the leading roles; Alain Sarde produced the picture and Philippe Sarde wrote its music.

At its centre is a former gangster who has left the underworld behind and built an orderly life with his partner. That calm is broken when one of his old accomplices escapes from prison. The couple have to get back in touch with acquaintances they had avoided for years, and the dangerous ties of the past come back to the surface. Alongside the three leads, the cast includes Michel Galabru, Christian Marquand, Gérard Lanvin, Jean-Claude Dauphin, Étienne Chicot and Richard Anconina.

Corneau wrote the screenplay together with Michel Grisolia. Although the story is built on a crime plot, the film can equally be read as a character study of people crushed by pressure and as an observation of different sides of French society. It is counted among the notable crime films in Corneau's career.

DirectorAlain Corneau

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Cast

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Catherine Deneuve Catherine Deneuve Film actor · 83 years old Michel Galabru Michel Galabru Film actor · died at 93 Yves Montand Gérard Depardieu Christian Marquand Gérard Lanvin Jean-Claude Dauphin Étienne Chicot Richard Anconina Antoine Baud Elisabeth Ferrier Gérard Loussine Guy Mairesse Jean Rougerie Jean-Claude Bouillaud

More from this director

Through different eyes

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

In Le Choix des armes Alain Corneau takes the gangster-film template and shifts its weight from events to people. Bringing Yves Montand, Catherine Deneuve and Gérard Depardieu together is an ambitious claim in itself, and the film largely lives up to it. An old gangster's settled life shaken by an escape from the past is a classic starting point, but the script by Corneau and Michel Grisolia deepens it by focusing on the characters' state of mind under pressure. Philippe Sarde's score adds markedly to the atmosphere. On the other hand, the 135-minute running time can drag, especially in the middle; a tighter hand in the editing would have helped.

Action & Thriller Fan Puts pace, tension and set pieces first; little patience for slow drama.

A gangster film, an accomplice breaking out of prison, dangerous ties from the past: on paper it is exactly my genre. But the film focuses on people more than events and runs 135 minutes. If you expect shootouts and quick scenes, the long conversations test your patience. The tension is there, but it simmers slowly. Better suited to fans of sober French crime drama.

History & Society Lens Asks about the period, the social background and what the work reflects.

Choice of Arms is about how hard it is for a man who has left the underworld and built an orderly life to escape his past. The theme raises the question of whether society really gives a second chance to people it has once pushed to the margins. While following people crushed by pressure, the film can also be read as an observation of different sides of French society. Behind the crime plot lies a thought-provoking layer about how far a person's milieu and old ties decide their fate. An interesting window for anyone curious about France at the start of the 1980s.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader reviews are below.

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