State of Siege [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

Director: Costa-Gavras Costa-Gavras

Overview

Like most of Costa-Gavras' political thrillers, the French State of Siege is based on a true story. The incident dramatized herein is the kidnapping of a U.S. official somewhere in Latin America. The director's sympathies clearly lie with the kidnappers, especially since the official (played by Yves Montand), ostensibly an expert in traffic control, has been assigned as special advisor to the government's secret police, training these worthies in the art of the torturing of political prisoners. Uruguay was the country where this story actually took place; though no names are given, there's little doubting the identity of Costa-Gavras' fictional locale. Despite its up-to-date radicalism, State of Siege adheres to time-honored Hollywood formula, with ugly, vulgar bad guys vs. handsome, articulate good guys.

Product Details

Release Date:	05/26/2015
UPC:	0715515144513
Original Release:	1972
Rating:	NR
Source:	Criterion Collection
Region Code:	A
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	2:01:00
Sales rank:	4,802

Special Features

New conversation between Costa-Gavras, and film scholar Peter Cowie; NBC News excerpts from 1970 on the kidnapping of Dan A. Mitrione, on which the film is based

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Yves Montand	Philip Michael Santore
Renato Salvatori	Capitaine Lopez
O.E. Hasse	Carlos Ducas
Jacques Weber	Hugo
Jean-Luc Bideau	Este
Evangeline Peterson	Mrs. Santore
Maurice Teynac	Minister of Internal Security
Yvette Etievant	Woman Senator
Harald Wolff	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Nemesio Antunes	President of the Republic
Andre Falcon	Deputy Fabbri
Mario Montilles	Assistant Commissioner Fontant
Jerry Brouer	Anthony Lee
Jean-Francois Boggi	Journalist
Eugenio Guzman	Spokesman for Internal Security
Maurice Jacquemont	Dean of the Law School
Roberto Navarette	Commissioner Romero
Gloria Lass	Tortured Student
Alejandro Cohen	Manuel
Martha Contreras	Alicia
Jacques Perrin	Telephonist
Gerard Manneveau	Bardes
Aldo Francia	Dr. Francia
Gilbert Brandini	Journalist
Douglas Harris	Aid Director
Robert Holmes	Papal Nuncio
Alejandro Sieverina	Enrique Macchi
Alejandro Misle	President of the Assembly
Julio Zarata	Instructor at the Police Academy
Nemesio Antúnez	Actor
Roberto Navarrete	Romero
Eugenio Guzmán	le porte-parole du gouvernement uruguayen
Eduardo Naveda	le Chef de police
Rafael Benavente	le consul brésilien du campus
Jean-Francois Gobbi	Journalist
Mikis Theodorakis	Composer

Technical Credits

Costa-Gavras

Franco Solinas

Jacques Perrin	Producer
Costa-Gavras	Director,Screenwriter
André Hervée	Sound Effects
Franco Solinas	Screenwriter
Max Palevsky	Producer

Editorial Reviews

Costa-Gavras' re-creation of the true story of the interrogation of a CIA case officer by unnamed urban revolutionaries based on the Tupamoros of Uruguay is an unsettling political thriller. Urban guerrillas kidnap a CIA agent (Yves Montand) who has been training the country's police in sophisticated counter-insurgency and torture techniques while under shallow cover. Shot in Chile with the approval of President Allende shortly before his untimely assassination, the film was the first to detail the uglier side of the kind of paramilitary training that the U.S. has often performed for its authoritarian allies. But, after numerous subsequent revelations about torture training in the U.S. and abroad, the film seems less shocking than it did at the time. Nonetheless, the film's early sequences are gripping, as the bewildered official is called to account for his actions. As the questioning wears on, however, the film becomes as repetitious as a piece of agitprop, more a righteous cri de coeur than a subtle analysis of political oppression. Montand, who had earlier played a heroic Greek politician in Costa-Gavras' Z, is effective here.

All Movie Guide - Michael Costello