Backfire (1964 film)
{{short description|1964 film}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Backfire
| image = Backfire (1964 film).jpg
| alt =
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = Jean Becker
| producer = Paul-Edmond Decharme
| screenplay = Jean Becker
Maurice Fabre
Didier Goulard
Luis Marquina
Claude Sautet
dialogue
Daniel Boulanger
| story =
| based_on = the novel by Clet Coroner
| starring = Jean-Paul Belmondo
Jean Seberg
Enrico Maria Salerno
| music = Grégorio García Ségura
Martial Solal
| cinematography = Edmond Séchan
| editing = Monique Kirsanoff
| studio = Capotole Movies
South Pacific Films
| distributor = C.C.F.C.
| released = {{Film date|1964|9|4|France|df=y}}
| runtime = 97 mins
| country = France
| language = French
| budget =
| gross = 2,007,088 admissions (France){{cite web|url=http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&prev=search&rurl=translate.google.com.au&sl=fr&u=http://www.boxofficestory.com/box-office-jean-paul-belmondo-c22691425/21&usg=ALkJrhiqey4-_enzc1Zi-Kzprvpr3MO6tA |title=Box office information for Backfire|website=Box Office Story|access-date=1 September 2016}}
}}Backfire ({{langx|fr|Échappement libre}}, {{langx|it|Scappamento aperto}}, {{langx|es|A escape libre}}) is a 1964 French crime film directed by Jean Becker, which stars Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg, reuniting for the first time since Breathless (1960).
Plot
A criminal organisation offers a Parisian man, David, $10,000 to transport a car across Europe. They tell him little about it except that drugs are not involved. He is accompanied by a photographer, Olga.
David discovers he is smuggling gold. The two travel to Beirut then Damascus. They fall in love and David wants the gold for himself.
Cast
- Jean-Paul Belmondo as David Ladislas
- Jean Seberg as Olga Celan
- Enrico Maria Salerno as Mario
- Gert Fröbe as Fehrman
- Renate Ewert as Comtesse
- Jean-Pierre Marielle as Van Houde
- Diana Lorys as Rosetta
- Fernando Rey as the Lebanese policeman
- Wolfgang Preiss as Grenner
- Michel Beaune as Daniel
- Roberto Camardiel as Stephanidès
- Fernando Sancho as Ylmaz
- Giacomo Furia as Nino
Production
The film was made by the same team who had produced Banana Peel (1963).
It was to have starred Jean Louis Trintignant but he withdrew and was replaced by Belmondo.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7JjyHTthybAC&q=backfire+belmondo+seberg&pg=PA87|title=The Films of Jean Seberg|first1=Michael |last1=Coates-Smith|first2= Garry |last2=McGee|publisher=McFarland|date= 4 May 2012 |page=89|isbn=9780786490226}}
Filming took place from February 10 to April 7, 1964. Costa-Gavras was an assistant director.
Reception
The film was the 19th most popular movie at the French box office in 1964.{{cite web|url=https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&prev=search&rurl=translate.google.com.au&sl=fr&u=http://www.boxofficestory.com/france-1964-c22750409&usg=ALkJrhikvyW3lHBC4wgH3OJjjaqT2ePFWw|title=1964 French box office|website=Box Office Story|access-date=28 August 2016}}
In 2020 Fimink wrote "The film’s existence is ideal useless trivia to annoy people with now that the Jean Seberg biopic has come out."{{cite magazine|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|magazine=Filmink|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/top-10-unmemorable-films-starring-legendary-screen-couples/|title=Top 10 Unmemorable Films Starring Legendary Screen Couples|date=February 3, 2020}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{imdb title|0058785|Backfire}}
- {{tcmdb title|id=67929}}
- [https://www.allmovie.com/movie/backfire-am59461 Backfire at AllMovie]
- [http://www.lefilmguide.com/review/echappement-libre-1964.html Backfire]{{Dead link|date=June 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} at Le Film Guide
- [http://en.unifrance.org/movie/34/backfire Backfire] at Uni France
- [https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9A04EEDD123CE733A25754C2A9629C946491D6CF Review of film] at New York Times
{{Jean Becker (director)}}
Category:Films directed by Jean Becker
Category:Films set in West Germany
Category:Films shot in Almería
Category:1960s French-language films
Category:French-language crime films
{{1960s-France-film-stub}}