Die Profi-Killer (1984)

Die Profi-Killer: Directed by Stephen Frears. With Freddie Stuart, Ralph Brown, A.J. Clarke, Terence Stamp. Ten years after ratting on his old mobster friends in exchange for personal immunity, two hit men drive a hardened criminal to Paris for his execution. However, while on the way, whatever can go wrong, does go wrong.

“I canu0026#39;t believe that this film had gone for so long without me knowing it was around. Iu0026#39;m a big fan of the crime/drama genre so when I stumbled across the fact it was going to be on some free to air digital channel at about one in the morning a couple of months ago, I thought Iu0026#39;d give it ago. In fact, Iu0026#39;d never heard of it before nor have I since. No one seems to know of it and itu0026#39;s a damn shame as this is a VERY underrated film, especially surprising given the fact John Hurt, Terrance Stamp and Tim Roth are in it.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe film deals with human interaction between a u0026#39;grassu0026#39; from ten years back, a rookie gangster and an old-time gangster in almost superior form to many other films. The fact it takes a u0026#39;road movieu0026#39; approach gives us more time to develop with the characters, as well as the characters themselves to do a bit of bonding. What follows is some fascinating dialogue between the three (and between a young Spanish girl on a lesser extent) and some very interesting relations building up. The stone cold presence from Hurt, the silent but u0026#39;you know heu0026#39;s up to somethingu0026#39; Stamp and the, almost, u0026#39;comic reliefu0026#39; character in the form of Tim Roth all combine in a truly mesmerising mixture of events. I was glued to the screen.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe narrative also takes on a mysterious, almost multi-layered approach when talking about the police hot on their tail. The fact we never hear the detectives talk or any of the police communicate leaves us with a sense that we know whatu0026#39;s going on but weu0026#39;re not actually there, almost as if the three male characters in the car are dreaming up the scenes themselves as to what MIGHT be happening at their last point of call if the police had yet arrived.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe action and dialogue is well spaced, even though the script is great anyway, and you truly struggle to work out what might happen next. The disturbing way in which Stamp seems to say nothing at all yet communicates with Roth like heu0026#39;s known him for years twinned with the fact panic hits him like a train later on in the film and he suddenly becomes a chatter box is an amazing juxtaposition which really adds to the experience.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnother attractive aspect of the film is the setting. This also acts as a juxtaposition as the beauty and heat that oozes from the screen really counterbalances the disturbing reality that Hurt and Rothu0026#39;s characters are there to u0026#39;getu0026#39; Stamp and make him pay for his previous actions as well as the sadistic interior that makes up Hurtu0026#39;s character. You canu0026#39;t get too caught up in the setting which you only really see when the journey is being killed off, and you know that with every second that rushes by on the road; Stamp is apparently closer to his death – clever stuff.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe film is simple. The narrative is easy, there arenu0026#39;t too many characters to deal with, there arenu0026#39;t too many on screen distractions (unless you count the girl) meaning you have more reasons to focus on EXACTLY whatu0026#39;s going on and although the film looks a little aged, I can guarantee itu0026#39;s thoroughly enjoyable.”