Le repas des fauves

This film remembers me "Marie-Octobre" (1958) where a group of former resistants have a meeting in a country house some twenty years later and have to find who betrayed the group during the war (one of the leaders war killed by the Germans).In the "Le repas des fauves" the situation is similar, the doors are closed (what we call in French huis clos), but they have to decide the names of two persons who will be delivered to the Germans.

The major problem with LE REPAS DES FAUVES is the constant hesitation between comedy and drama. Much of the witty dialog is relevant to boulevard theater, while the script deals with very serious matters.

Christian-Jaque was a good director,who gave some of the great films of the French cinema:"les disparus de Saint-Agil" (1938)"l'assassinat du père noel"(1942)"boule de suif" (1945) and "un revenant"(1946).From 1950 onwards ,he slowly but inexorably degenerated into mediocrity (with the exception of "Fanfan la Tulipe" and "madame du Barry" - which featured racy lines -and the cheerful 'Si Tous Les Gars Du Monde" and you could pronounce him dead well before the coming of the nouvelle vague.