I Saw Ben Barka Get Killed (2006) Movie Information:

I Saw Ben Barka Get Killed (2006) Directed by: Serge Le Péron I Saw Ben Barka Get Killed (2006) Written by: Not available at this time I Saw Ben Barka Get Killed (2006) Cast: Charles Berling, Simon Abkarian

I Saw Ben Barka Get Killed (2006) U.S. Distributor: Not available at this time I Saw Ben Barka Get Killed (2006) U.K. Distributor: Artificial Eye

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I Saw Ben Barka Get Killed (2006) Synopsis:

In January of 1966, the police discover the body of a man named George Figon in a Parisian apartment. Figon had previously placed the Ben Barka story in the spotlight, thus shaking the basis of Gaullist power. It all started one year earlier: Figon, a con artist fed up with shady schemes was on the lookout for a big coup when he was contacted to produce a documentary on decolonisation.

I Saw Ben Barka Get Killed (2006) Movie Review:

Cool and stylish, this jazzy noir mystery is worth watching for the strong performances, intriguing story and thoughtful themes. But those unfamiliar with the real events will have trouble making sense of it.

Georges Figon (Berling) is a rogue in early 1960s Paris, an ex-con and ex-TV personality trying to make it as a film producer. His shady friends hook him up with a Moroccan (Kabouche) interested in financing a documentary about his country's decolonisation. So Figon enlists a talented director (Léaud) and writer (Balasko) and agrees to consult with exiled Moroccan politician Mehdi Ben Barka (Abkarian). But things go very wrong when Ben Barka vanishes, and Figon realises he's in over his head.

The film is based on an infamous unsolved disappearance, although this film merges the facts with rather a lot of fiction. Fortunately, Le Péron is a skilled filmmaker, playing with genres as draws us through the story. It opens as Sunset Boulevard, with Figon narrating the film from a pool of his own blood on the floor, then spinning back to tell the story through flashbacks, chunks of illuminating narrative and a final chapter that tries to set things straight.

Along the way we briefly enter the groovy free-spirited '60s, but most of the film is more like a suspicious and paranoid Hitchcockian thriller about a man in the wrong place at all the wrong times. Berling is superb in the central role; Figon pictures himself as a smooth-talking con artist, but we can see his errors of judgment and blatant carelessness at every turn. As the story progresses, it's fascinating to watch him work his way into a fatal corner, although we never have much sympathy for him.

It would also help if we had a clue what was going on, who all these suspicious people are and why they keep doing such erratic things. But the supporting cast is excellent, with standout performances from the otherworldly Léaud and the shrewd Belasko, as well Babe as Figon's loyal, but used, girlfriend.

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I Saw Ben Barka Get Killed (2006) review written by: Rich Cline