“How to act in a good movie?” : 48 years ago, Michel Galabru was afraid to play his first dramatic role, but it was extraordinary.

At the end of the 19th century, Joseph Bouvier was dismissed from the army due to excessive violence. After this release, the man attacks his fiancee and unsuccessfully tries to commit suicide. After being in a mental hospital, Joseph comes out even more enraged and decides to take revenge on all the people who cross his path in Arde.

Not far from there, the case-obsessed judge Rousseau takes part in the investigation and follows Bouvier’s trail. Determined to put him behind bars, it’s the start of a manhunt…

A year after the party started, Bertrand Tavernier and his beloved actor Philippe Noiret collaborate for the third time on The Judge and the Murderer, a horror story based on a horror story that made legal headlines and divided opinion. in the 19th century.

Shooting the film in the wide open spaces of a mountainous region as a tribute to the American masters he admires, with John Ford in the lead, Tavernier brilliantly sets up a confrontation between two men who are diametrically opposed.

One (Philippe Noire), a judge, a bourgeois, an absolute symbol of justice and especially of social order, who fears above all the anarchist conflagration. The other (Michel Galabru), a self-proclaimed “anarchist of God”, a deviant who must be eliminated in order to preserve this social order at all costs, however petty and narrow-minded he may be.

If Noire is once again sensational in her role, all eyes are still on Michel Galabru. Light years removed from his previous comic roles, Galabru presents an extraordinary composition as Bouvier, a character who is at once terrifying, brilliant and disturbing, even in his madness.

The composition is all the more exciting, because for the first time in his career, the actor plays the main dramatic role. The César Academy did not make a mistake when they awarded him the best actor statue in 1977.

“The financiers backed out because they didn’t believe he was cut out for it.”

And yet, casting this huge cast was a crossroads for the filmmaker. Already with financiers, as he recalls Broken memoriesRecently published by Acte Sud publishing house. “I had to fight to get it set up, the financiers backed out because they didn’t believe he was cut out for it, but I thought about it from the start of the project.” he says. add: “Behind the red nose of the clown, behind the films that were not worthy of him, where he managed to be scary despite everything, I felt the genius of Raimu for a long time.”

Galabru, for his part, was terrified of this leap into the unknown for this role of a traveling serial killer in 19th-century France. The role is far from his usual register. “I didn’t feel like it was possible, but with persuasion, friendship and sincerity, Bertrand managed to convince me. I don’t think I ever loved my job as much as in his company.”

“Your Grateful Killer”

A wonderful compliment and tribute to say the least. And Bertrand Tavernier recalls this disturbing anecdote in his memoirs.

“There was an extraordinary understanding between Noiré and him. They listened to each other, supported each other. Because they were excited. Galabru called him before the shooting and asked: “How can we act in a good film. ” (!) and Philip replied that it is very simple: “You just have to let it guide you”. Michel Galabru will win a Caesar who will be justice and sign every letter he sends me: “Your grateful assassin.”

One of Tavernier’s great satisfactions with the fate of his film was knowing that he was heartily supported. Pierre TruchA very famous magistrate, whose name will remain in the trial of Claus Barbi; It was he who carried out all the instructions as the Attorney General. “He considers The Judge and Assassin the most He just never focused on the investigating judge, his role, his relationship Its hierarchy, with power, but also the risks that its subjectivity leads him to make an essentially incriminating case”.

The magistrate also formed a commission after viewing the film to suggest reforms. Tavernier adds: “It is he who will give the right to photograph the works of these judges, which he will give A place for extraordinary documentaries Raymond Depardon“. When fiction inspires reality, at its best.

Do you want to see this extraordinary movie again? It is available on VOD as well as Blu-ray and DVD.