Nada (1974)

Director:

Claude Chabrol

Writers:

Claude Chabrol (writer)
Antonietta Malzieri (writer)

Release Date:

21 June 1974 (West Germany)

Genre:

Thriller

Plot:

Quand Edouard est approché pour qu'il kidnappe l'ambassadeur des Etats-Unis en France, il refuse. En suite...

Plot Keywords:

Terrorist | American Ambassador | Ambassador | Commando | Police

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Fabio Testi	...	Buenaventura Diaz
Lou Castel	...	D'Arey
Mariangela Melato	...	Veronique Cash
Michel Aumont	...	Goemond
Michel Duchaussoy	...	Marcel Treuffais
Maurice Garrel	...	André Épaulard
Didier Kaminka	...	Meyer
André Falcon	...	Le ministre / The Minister
François Perrot
Viviane Romance	...	Madame Gabrielle
Lyle Joyce	...	Richard Poindexter
Henri Attal
Jean-Marie Arnoux
George Birt
François Cadet

Also Known As:

Sterminate gruppo Zero (Italy)
The Nada Gang (International: English title)

Runtime:

Germany:132 min | Argentina:133 min | USA:110 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:18 (nf) (bw) | Argentina:16 | UK:X (original rating) | UK:18 (video rating) (1995) | UK:15 (DVD rating) (2005) | Netherlands:18

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company:

Italian International Film

Movie Connections:

Featured in Le fils de Gascogne (1995)

Fast moving, darkly amusing

A thriller with serious intentions but also with a fast pace and a comic/ironic view of all its characters motivations. The ideas behind the brutal police and the brutal kidnappers are dead serious, but Chabrol shows each side to be rather absurd and many scenes have some odd or funny pay off moment. The main policeman lounges like a goof ball in a chair while they torture a suspect. During the kidnapping one of the kidnappers knocks out a completely naked hooker and at the end of the scene comes back into the room to cover her pubic hair. The dialog is filled with comedic twists throughout. These Little things let us know that these deadly doings are, well silly. If it wasn't that people get killed doing them these people would be laugh out loud funny. That's the point of the tone of the film. It's an additional layer of damnation that most dead serious thrillers forget. The violence in the film is bloody and the message about politics being against all of us and ready to betray anyone, especially if you resort to killing your fellow man is important today. This is one of Chabrol's best films, he makes good use of helicopter views of the assault on the hideout at the end of the film. A well cast film with many parts, but you never get confused as to who is who. There aren't many films that have tried or achieved this combination of elements, one that does come to mind is the excellent TV movie THE DAY REGAN WAS SHOT.