Trailer

Nous sommes tous des assassins (1952)

Crime

Originally titled Nous Sommes Tout des Assassins, We Are All Murderers was directed by Andre Cayette, a former lawyer who detested France's execution system. Charles Spaak's screenplay makes no attempt to launder the four principal characters (Marcel Mouloudji, Raymond Pellegrin, Antoinine Balpetre, Julien Verdeir): never mind the motivations, these are all hardened murderers. Still, the film condemns the sadistic ritual through which these four men are brought to the guillotine. In France, the policy is to never tell the condemned man when the execution will occur--and then to show up without warning and drag the victim kicking and screaming to his doom, without any opportunity to make peace with himself or his Maker. By the end of this harrowing film, the audience feels as dehumanized as the four "protagonists." We Are All Murderers was roundly roasted by the French law enforcement establishment, but it won a special jury prize at the 1952 Cannes Film Festival.

Updated May 28 2020

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FACTS

Runtime: 117 mins Rating: 6.8

Cast

Guy Decomble

Un inspecteur

Georges Poujouly

Michel Le Guen

Raymond Pellegrin

Gino Bollini

Jacqueline Pierreux

Yvonne Le Guen

Lucien Nat

L'avocat général

Henri Crémieux

L'avocat de Bauchet

Antoine Balpêtré

Dr. Albert Dutoit

Léonce Corne

Le colonel instructeur