MAY CONTAIN SPOILER. Claude Chabrol knew how to make a great movie and over a long career, proved as much again and again. But his considerable output was prone to occasional dips and miss-fires in between the successes. WHO'S GO THE BLACK BOX? / THE ROAD TO CORINTHE is perhaps one of his worst. Like many (most?) of his lesser works it's an international co-production without the elements that he used so well - there is no dysfunctional family, no large country house setting and no bourgeoisie to prod and chastise. Instead we have a very mid 60's staple of glamorous spies and cold war paranoia. But it doesn't work on any level. The plot is too convoluted to follow and the characters too flimsy to care about. There's no one to root for or worry about while the action itself never sparkles, there's no memorable chase sequence and little suspense.The promising cast look out of sorts; Maurice Ronet looks bewildered or bored most of the time and Jean Seberg simply hasn't got enough character to get her acting teeth into so remains cold and detached. She does look great however and provides the visual highlight wandering around her apartment in a tight neon green bra-slip just prior to what should have been the biggest shock in the film but that's somewhat telegraphed so that what you remember is Jean looking sexy and not what happens next... Sadly thats the whole film in a nutshell. Worth a look if you are a Chabrol fan simply to appreciate how good most of his other films are by comparison.

This is not a typical Chabrol film. It's a dull spy-comedy filmed at Greece. So I am going to spare these lines commenting on the positive aspects of the film. Jean Seberg is sexy as hell. There are parts that are funny. There are two Greek actors who in Greece have special respects (Artemis Matsas, Vasilis Diamantopoulos). Finally, Chabrol seems to like the Greek landscapes and the Greek way of living, at least the one during the 70ies. He presents the most graphical side of Athens and of the Greek Country at its best. It's a 6/10 because of these few good additions, if you are not interested in them, don't even bother watching the movie.

This is the last film of Chabrol's sixties transitional period (1962-1967);the next one "Les Biches" inaugurates the great era which many consider Chabrol's finest hour.Using the same actors as in "La Ligne de Démarcation" ,Chabrol tried his hand at a spoof on the spy thrillers which were so hip at the time in the wake of James Bond ;call it "Marie-Chantal Contre le Docteur Kha 2".Jean Seberg's character's recalls Marie Laforêt's.The story is absolutely far-fetched and the viewer doesn't care a little bit for the "black boxes" which threaten the world and its radars.Michel Bouquet has a couldn't- care- less part and you would not think by looking at him he would become the great actor of such Chabrolesque achievements as " La Femme Infidèle" -where he would meet again Maurice Ronet-"La Rupture" or " Juste Avant La Nuit".Jean Seberg plays the part of a not-so-dumb-bimbo and she's very good-looking as Greek landscapes filmed by Rabier are.Like this ? try these...."OSS 117: Le Caire Nid D'Espions" (Hazanavicius ,2006) "Coplan Sauve Sa Peau" (Boisset,1967) "Marie-Chantal Contre Le Docteur Khâ" (Chabrol,1965)

If the prospect of watching Jean Seberg dangle from a crane is appealing to you then perhaps you may get something out of this pointless exercise. As it sits there is really very little to recommend here other than the luminous beauty of the star.The story, the smuggling of little black boxes that jam the Greek radar stations, is nothing to get excited about and director Claude Chabrol refuses to inject much in the way of action or suspense to offset it. Chabrol made a few spy flicks early in his career (see Our Agent Tiger) but this one must be considered the weakest.The film opens with an anonymous quotation: `I don't ask you to believe it but I suggest that you dream about it.' There is a certain dream-like quality to the proceedings but this lackadaisical film is nearly anti-spy cinema. If the question is `Who has the black box?' the reply simply has to be `Who cares?'