Belmondo makes off with gold hidden in a car, while trying to handle the ambiguous Seberg

Author: msroz from United States
9 March 2013

Jean-Paul Belmondo is a smuggler who is smuggling diamonds for Wolfgang Preiss. His cover story is that he and his partner are journalists. Preiss switches to the smuggling of gold hidden in an automobile. Belmondo's erstwhile partner drops out and is replaced by the frosty Jean Seberg. They are to go to Beirut with the car. Meanwhile the irrepressible Belmondo tries every flirtation approach in his arsenal.

Seberg knows enough to obey the "Organization" and not get tangled up with an enforcer like Gert Frobe, even though he is a reasonable one. Belmondo is much more ready to go out on his own if the Organization's plans get messed up, which is what happens after an initial success.Has Belmondo won over Seberg or not? That's part of the suspense in this cat-and-mouse game, as the mouse (Belmondo) makes off with the car when a supposed delivery contact is found to be arrested.

There begins a chase that takes us across some very nice locations, including Athens, Naples and Rome, as Belmondo attempts to sell the car. The photography is splendid. The romantic sparring is pleasant. The violence held to a minimum, in the tradition of movies involving jewel thieves and such."Echappement libre" is an entertaining way to spend some 94 minutes