A little-known film starring the great Jean-Paul Belmondo. If the film had been a hit (like most of the films featuring the master) it would have been known, talked about and written (I mean in our country) much more. However, the picture was published in 1992, when the peak of popularity of the French actor, among the Soviet / Russian audience, has already passed - to replace so popular, in Soviet times, French cinema, came (I would even say "rumbled into a rumbling") diverse film production from Hollywood, as well as an infinite number of Latin American soap operas.
Based on the classic detective novel by Georges Simenon, Unknown in the House leaves a somewhat double impression: As a detective - too textbook, naive, simple, old-fashioned (but this is not bad). As an acting work of an individual master is wonderful. I mean, of course, Jean-Paul Belmondo, who perfectly embodied two hypostases, two states of the same person, the lawyer of Lurs.
This is not the first joint work of Jean-Paul Belmondo with director Georges Lautner, but perhaps their first joint detective, shot more as a social drama than a detective in its pure form.
Lursa is not Belmondo in a leather jacket, a sample of the late 70s - early 80s, distributing, joking and smiling, slaps left and right. Lursa is an adult character, a wise character. This is a man who was pretty battered and broken by life, and he learned his lesson of wisdom and experience, and now sets life priorities with an eye on this lesson.
Unknown in the House is a very high-quality example of a good, serious movie. Serious, but not boring. A movie about relationships ... with children ... with parents ... with friends ... with the law ... with life ...
Fans of Jean-Paul Belmondo must watch, everyone else is highly recommended!
8.5 out of 10