Jean-Paul Belmondo Double Feature: ‘The Body Of My Enemy’ And ‘The Hunter Will Get You’

Whether seeking revenge or taking out killers, Jean-Paul Belmondo proves he can do it all in this dynamic, French double feature.

Philippe Labro‘s The Hunter Will Get You (1976)

A good thing to know about The Hunter Will Get You is that the title isn’t being generic. Belmondo is “The Hunter” – that is, he’s a hired killer who keeps getting assigned a new name whenever he goes undercover. “The Hunter” is the name that sticks, and in the film he’s been hired to expose some corrupt cops and a serial burglar named “The Hawk” (Bruno Cremer) who has a habit of killing witnesses. One witness (Patrick Fierry) survived their encounter, though, and is currently in jail, which means Belmondo has to go in after him as an inmate.

Evenly paced and smart, The Hunter Will Get You trusts its audience to keep up instead of overexplaining and features a propulsive score by Michel Colombier. Belmondo makes being an action star look slick and effortless. The Hunter is not getting hurt, so in a sense the stakes are never high, and yet Belmondo has such a charismatic presence that all he has to do is stand there and he’s engaging (which is what he does during the opening titles and yet there’s no looking away). In their commentary, film historians Howard S. Berger, Nathaniel Thompson, and Steve Mitchell bring up that Belmondo could’ve been a silent film star and, to that end, there are long sequences in this film without any dialogue. Those put off by subtitles won’t have to read much (though also, who would want to listen to a dubbed Belmondo if they didn’t have to?).

This might not be the most stunt-heavy of Belmondo’s film, for fans who enjoy watching him do his own stunts, but he did get hurt during filming according to Labro in an interview from 2000 that’s included. What’s great is Labro clearly watched the film recently, or has a good memory, or both, because he came ready to talk about how he and Jacques Lanzmann approached co-writing the screenplay and wanting to make sure every role, no matter how small, was well-cast. That care with the casting shows and makes all the difference in the world – the last thing you want when watching a crime film is to not be able to tell the henchmen apart.

Henry Verneuil‘s The Body of My Enemy (1976)

After spending seven years in jail for two murders he didn’t commit, The Body of My Enemy begins with Francois (Belmondo) getting released and eager to find out what people have been up to while he was rotting in a prison cell. Is he bitter? A little, and one of the most interesting things about this movie is how it moves back and forth in time, catching viewers up on what transpired to get Francois convicted and using a (genius) throwaway line about memory to explain why Francois looks the same in both timelines. Berger, Thompson, and Mitchell are responsible for the commentary again and go over the possible ramifications of Francois being an unreliable narrator. The film is also experimental when it comes to voiceover and occasionally allows viewers to hear the inner thoughts of not just Francois but other characters.

Where The Hunter Will Get You had no female stars, The Body of My Enemy has a few but they’re almost all sexual conquests of Francois’. Blame it on Francois’ memory but The Body of Enemy is also a film that could’ve been edited down more. There are characters that could’ve been cut, characters that feel important (like Francois’ father, played by René Lefèvre) who get no resolution. While Francois’ initial reaction to learning one of his friends transitioned while he was in jail is dismissive, he sticks around and there’s a lot of heart in Claude Brossart‘s performance, which doesn’t wallow in shame or treat Jeannine’s identity as a punchline, even if Jeannine’s work as a dominatrix is clearly meant to be seen as taboo. A sleeker version of The Body of My Enemy would’ve been better, but this is still good.

The Body of My Enemy And The Hunter Will Get You are available on Blu-ray and DVD from Kino Lorber.