Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

FrogGlace In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.

FilmCriticLalitRao Those who watch French films either to improve their knowledge of French cinema or to learn subtle nuances of French language cannot remain indifferent to the charms of the great French actor Lino Ventura. There is some kind of "JE NE SAIS QUOI" type of quality in him which makes him stand apart from the usual group of French actors. Garde à Vue sees him paired against Michel Serrault who is also considered as one of France's important actors.This entire film is their indispensable vehicle to deliberate about justice,law and unusual methods of police procedures.A deft cat and mouse game with limited movement could be considered as this film's apt description.In the midst of these two towering figures,there are also some minor figures who steal the show on their own.Director Claude Miller achieves this effect by casting Guy Marchand as a police inspector and Romy Schneider as the main suspect's wife.The dialogs penned by Michel Audiard have a certain kind of literary aura to them.This is one reason why viewers would be more interested in pricking up their ears in order not to miss any line.Film critic Lalit Rao saw this film during Franco-German mystery and thriller film festival organized by Alliance Française de Bangalore and Goethe Institut in 1992.

doctorrugger Garde à Vue has to be seen a number of times in order to understand the sub-plots it contains. If you're not used to french wordy films, based upon conversation and battle of wits rather than on action, don't even try to watch it. You'll only obtain boredom to death, and reassured opinion that french movies are not for you.Garde à Vue is a wordy film, essentially based upon dialogs (written by Audiard by the way)and it cruelly cuts the veil of appearances.Why does Maître Martineau (Serrault) prefer to be unduly accused of being a child murderer rather than telling the truth ? Because at the time of the murder he was with a 18 years old girl with whom he has a 8-years sexual relation. His wife knows it, she's jealous of it and he prefers to be executed (in 1980 in France, there was still death penalty)rather than unveiling the sole "pure and innocent" aspect of his pitiful life.

Pierre Croteau At the beginning of this movie, while credit titles are still running, you are immersed in an atmosphere that mix your feelings, with dark winter night, clapping rain on windows and a marvelous music (composed by Georges Delerue) which evoke merry-go-round, barrel organ and festive childhood.And then the music stops and you enter in an austere police office for a questioning on the murder of two children.No show off. No special effects. Dialogue.And you discover how sad and lonesome adults can be sometimes in their games or duties.Excellent movie.

Oliver Lenhardt Nothing revolutionary here; just impeccably elegant, restrained cinema.GARDE A VUE is confined almost exclusively to a drab police station, and mostly to one interrogation room, but director Claude Miller (who made the wonderful film THIS SWEET SICKNESS, among others) intercalates spare glimpses of exterior tableaux as minimalist locale scenography. Miller's restraint, especially early on, is breathtaking, and his exquisite handling of the consequently-pivotal interior mise-en-scene makes for captivating viewing.Lino Ventura is superb as usual, succeeding to legitimize a character that, on paper, is cliche: the laconic, hard-nosed, world-weary homicide detective. Ventura lives the role, making it completely believable, even though the script allows us little access to his inner workings; the film ends at the very moment it appears he will be forced to confront his failure for the first time.Michel Serrault is equal to the task as the suspected child-killer who shrewdly spars with the single-minded flic. The exchanges between the two are more-often-than-not pregnant with tension and the aura of a constantly metamorphosing playing field for a battle of wits. Serrault's character is by turns deplorably haughty and cunning, and pitiable; then later....The "message" of GARDE A VUE, if one were to search for one, is a condemnation of police methodology and the kind of pressures that make a cop over-zealous to, if necessary, close cases at the expense of justice. For most of its length though the film shines as nothing more than an exemplar of how to turn a potentially soporific set-bound scenario into a suspenseful drama of the utmost cinematic economy.