Too much of everything

Fantastic!

Best movie ever!

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

A young woman who watches a stranger get off a bus in the pouring rain, soon finds out she's being stalked by that exact man. When at home, the man breaks into her house (as her husband is away) and rapes her. Later on after the ordeal the man still happens to be the house, but she grabs a shotgun and shoots him. Where she would dump the body into the ocean. Then suddenly another man appears on the scene named Harry Dobbs, who goes out of the way to try to convince the young woman she committed a murder without giving too much away.This tightly handled low-budget French / Italian co-production is an improbable, but an oddly bold and stimulating teaser that seems straight forward at first, then suddenly it leads you down many knotty paths (with Hitchcock shades) before breaking out the truth of the matter. It's a real curiously acute piece (adapted from a novel) by director Rene Clement, who gets interestingly respectable performances out of very fitting Charles Bronson (whose character is a hard one to figure out) and Marlene Jobert adding some innocent starch to her role. The film / story really do draw from these two performances in dissecting the character's formal makeup and inner workings in how they play a big part to the scheme of things. It's hard to tell the lingering intentions behind the bigger picture, as it becomes exhaustingly confounding in its investigative details and suggestive developments. The productively sharp script is thoroughly meticulous in disguising the truth; as barriers are broken to only go on to create new scenarios and leads. Stark, moody atmospherics lend well to Clement's leeringly grounded, subdued style where it really breathes of a quiet intensity to its continuously building psychological framework and dour visuals within its slow-going nature. The gloomy opening stages really do build upon a creepy ambiance, which pulls you in and the score is sparsely used, but has a dramatic sting. The performances outside the central turns are finely tailored with the likes of Annie Cordy, Ellen Bahl, Jean Gaven, Steve Eckardt and Jill Ireland in one her first roles starring alongside Bronson.

Upon watching this movie I really had only the Death Wish films to rate Bronson by but after watching the "Rider on the Rain" I can understand why he was an acclaimed actor. His role in this movie was superbly amazing as the 'I know what you've been up to undercover', his acting is unbelievable and I up until this movie had never seen him act so well and have so much dialogue. Granted I'am very unfamiliar with foreign films (to me they can be confusing at times, maybe that's just a concentration problem on my behalf?) and acting back in 1970 was a whole lot different than today, but nonetheless this movie is worth having on your shelf. It always takes me a few viewings to fully grasp the concept of most films but already by watching it this first time I'am really convinced that this could be his best outing (with the exception of the first Death Wish and Cold Sweat). I still have yet to see more Bronson classics but I'm just getting started and this one definitely 'wowed' me. I would recommend this movie to anyone who is a Bronson fan, must see stuff. 9 out of 10 stars.

This movie, simply put, is Charles Bronson at his absolute best, and proves that he does indeed have the ability to handle drama/suspense. He delivers an extremely convincing performance which is, arguably, his very best. It is too bad that this movie is as obscure as it is, because if it had been produced state-side and been more mainstream, he might have enjoyed a much more critically-acclaimed career, deserving of a lifetime achievement Academy Award. However, this is not the case and die-hard Bronson fans get to enjoy this little gem while the rest of the world misses out because they were too busy shunning the unfairly typecast Bronson.

I really love this movie... Yes, there are parts that are stupid, like when Bronson forces the french babe to drink alcohol.. What kind of technique is that?? And I didn't understand the walnut thing... I think Bronson must have been cracking them before he threw them... I heard he was one strong dude... I was only 14 the first time I watched it so one of my favorite parts was watching the french babe in her see through top... But the movie has stood up to time and it is as good or better, everytime I rewatch it... Since I live in the U.S. ,it is like taking a 1-1/2 hour trip to France, or at least what I would imagine France would be like, since I was never there... Great film, go see it... It is much better than most of the garbage films that are in the video stores today...