A well made and adequate French thriller- many of the stylistic choices have me thinking of this one as a 'proto-giallo' of sorts, especially the camera work and amazing score. It can drag a bit but the chase scene in the latter half is well worth the wait. I haven't seen one quite this visually engaging since Lizard in a Woman's Skin. Gorgeous sets, sharp camera work, an engaging, psychedelic score, and of course, the beauty of the lead, all work in this one's favour. What works against it is the thin story-line and the clumsy dialogue- both things to be expected from early foreign thrillers such as this and therefore easy to overlook. The ending is rather good but almost feels tacked on. I wish they had done more to lead up to it during the film. Overall, this tended to get better throughout, starting off weak and slowly getting stronger. Great find for fans of foreign thrillers and giallo enthusiasts in particular.

Something really quite different here and although it is rather far fetched, it is nevertheless rather beguiling and I enjoyed it anyway. I also enjoyed it despite the soundtrack and naff songs, although I notice some really liked what I would dismiss as typical French pop songs of the period. Well photographed, this almost had a arty look to it at times and if this look is not sustained there is plenty that is good. The cliff top scenes at the start, some city shop window reflections and of course 'the accident' are all very well shot. Some of the interiors are a bit wordy (a French habit) and whilst there are some nice costumes, nothing as ravishing as if this had been an entirely Italian production. And, I can resist no more, Romy Schneider is lovely and carries out her difficult and rather complex role very well indeed. As I say all a bit silly but, bright, colourful and ever engaging.

Frankly I doubt Schneider herself said that this movie "set the tone for her future roles".If such was the case,what a poor taste she used to have.Actually,it was rather "la piscine" made the year before,that boosted her career that was on the wane after the Sissi saga (forever my love).Romy Schneider teamed up again with Maurice Ronet (who was in "la piscine" too),but this time with laughable results.Leonard Keigel,the director ,wrote a screenplay in which the paucity of the ideas is so glaring that only a member of the audience who has never seen a Hitch ,Chabrol ou Clouzot movie could enjoy this poor would - be suspense thriller.Keigel hired Chabrol's dialogue writer,Paul Guégauff:probably horrified by the emptiness of the story,he made up for it with a lot of swear-words.I wonder why talented actors like Ronet and Schneider agreed to make such a bomb;besides,the supporting actors do not "support" at all:Keigel's wife ,Simone Bach and Gabriele Tinti,sink into utterly ridiculous ham. The songs ,in English ("who are you" ) sung by a Dutch band ,Wallace Collection ,would nicely fit in a commercial for Martini.The critical reception was so disagreeable in France at the time ("a film made of brics,bracs and thingummies") that Keigel was not to made another movie before 1977.And it was his last one.

This Thriller is really wonderful because of its good photography, original story, suspense and the really groovy 60s music. For all people who think Romy Schneider only did strange boring melodramas like Sissy the movies she made in France are something they should see. Her acting as a mysterious and dazzling woman is excellent, you can not take your eyes of her when she is on the screen. As she said herself, this role set the tone for her future roles. Don't miss this masterpiece!