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The Judge and the Assassin

1976 · 128 min

A slow, somber plunge into madness and moral compromise, watching a killer and a judge use each other in a grim historical drama.

Overview
France, 1893. Joseph Bouvier attempts to shoot his love who refused to marry him and to commit suicide. Upon release from the filthy asylum where he was placed, with bullets still remaining in his head, he wanders the country roads and rapes and murders many teenagers over years. The judge Rousseau captures him, but to serve his ambition seeks to avoid that Bouvier is simply declared insane.

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In the UKNo streaming, rental or purchase options known.
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How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • darkstrength 3 of 3
  • bleakstrength 2 of 3
  • tensestrength 2 of 3
  • satiricalstrength 1 of 3
Pacing
measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
demanding, 4 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • justice
  • ambition
  • madness
  • class
  • morality
Places
  • countryside
  • small town
Era
period
Audience
adult
Form
  • true story
Content intensity
  • Gore mild
  • Language mild
  • Violence strong
  • Sex strong
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action2
Horror3
Humour2
Realism9
Romance1
Tension6
Darkness8
Complexity7
Emotional weight8

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Where to watch in the UK

No UK streaming, rental or purchase options are known.

Streaming data from JustWatch.TMDB

Details

Genres
history, crime, drama
Directed by
Bertrand Tavernier
Written by
Bertrand Tavernier, Pierre Bost, Jean Aurenche
Starring
Philippe Noiret, Michel Galabru, Isabelle Huppert, Jean-Claude Brialy, Renée Faure, Cécile Vassort, Jean-Roger Caussimon, Jean Bretonnière
Music
Philippe Sarde
Cinematography
Pierre-William Glenn
Runtime
128 min
Country
France
Languages
French, Vietnamese

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