Admirable film.

A Masterpiece!

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Blistering performances.

Robert Enrico switched off his tape recorder. He just stood there for a few moments. Morricone's score was devastating. The maestro had delivered all right. The title track had blown him away. It began with trickling water drops. Followed by dissonant sounds. But soon a melodious piano could be heard and it was beautiful when the violins kicked in. The director thought he could have a drink now. He could already imagine using this score in his movie. Suddenly he was excited. He could already imagine using this score at the end of the movie. But he had to make sure he wouldn't get carried away with the score. The score could take over the movie.Enrico poured some whiskey and sat in his chair. It was a nice plot based on the Francis Ryck novel. A man escapes from a prison. He hooks up with a strange couple in rural France. He tells them that he harbors a terrible secret about the state. The couple take him in and go out of their way to save him from the authorities. Their relationship becomes complex. The man on the run is inevitably attracted to the beautiful woman who is a redhead. He develops an intense friendship with the husband. He thought about Marlene Jobert from that Godard film. She would do as the redhead. The portly Philippe Noiret as the husband who is glad to be cuckolded. Maybe Trintignant as the man on the run. There was always something very enigmatic about Trintignant. He was unforgettable in Il Sorpasso.Both the prison the man escapes from and the house the couple occupies would look the same. Both made of stone. It would be hard to tell their interiors apart.The film would be up to its neck in paranoia. Right from the time the man escaped. He could already imagine this terrific scene where a man runs up a flight of stairs as Trintignant takes a lift. There would be paranoia between the threesome as well. The woman would get jealous and paranoid as the husband and the man on the run grew closer.There would also be a sepia tinged dream sequences when Trintignant remembers the time he was tortured. This would heighten the sense of paranoia. Of course, the film would not be anything like those American thrillers that expressed paranoia about their Government.The whiskey began to hit Enrico. He wondered if the film would get noticed. Would it be remembered? 40 or 50 years from now? Would there be watchable prints of the movie? Would anyone watch it in 2016? Who knew? (8/10)

What a delightfully simple suspense film! From the opening scene in a "prison hospital" to a ride up an elevator to a small home in the country this Kafka-esqe story will grip you. I'm surprised this film has not been released on DVD considering it stars Jean-Louis Trintignant.I saw this film on TV over 20 years ago. CBS offered a--sadly short-lived--cable channel that offered truly quality films. When I happened to catch Le Secret (probably 1982) I was stunned that I had never heard of it and had no memory of its release in the U.S. eight years earlier. Like Hitchock? Yes, but not completely.

A mysterious prisoner goes on the run, claiming to hold a State secret putting his life in dangers. An innocent couple get caught up in his flight, and the series of adventures which follows. The tension builds to a crescendo and the sense of mystery prevails throughout this paranoiac thriller, in which the reason of State takes an implacable turn.

The rude nature of the South West of France alongside the plot of the movie where three well known french actors give the best of themselves in a story that is taken of reality of those years of the 70's. Sublime shots and dialogues, good acting work, a movie that has no need to any Hollywood action and big budgets in order to entertain. If you like France and its mentality, then this movie is for you.