Georges Lautner’s 1981 action-thriller Le Professionnel is about a French Secret Service agent betrayed by his employers and left to rot in an African prison camp. After breaking out and returning to his native France, the agent (played by Jean-Paul Belmondo) begins plotting his revenge against the people who set him up. In this scene, Belmondo is attempting to outfox the French Secret Service agents following him.
Belmodono’s car is the red Fiat 131 Supermirafiori while his rivals are driving a black Peugeot 504. There are a couple of 180 degree turns, a handful of nice pit manoeuvres and the prerequisite shot of the Eiffel Tower for the non-Gallic viewers. The chase eventually moves to the grounds of the Palais de Chaillot, where we discover just how overused that, “driving a car down some stairs,” thing was before Jason Bourne got around to it.
And, as union regulations specify for these sorts of movies, when the baddies’ car flips over it immediately catches fire. I’m just surprised it didn’t explode, Michael Bay-style. I also like the fact that even after he’s been shot, Belmondo just keeps on going like he’s the son of Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Energizer Bunny. If the awkwardly compressed video below doesn’t do trick for you – and it probably won’t, you can can check out a better quality clip on Youtube by clicking this link.
By Tristan Hankins
VIDEO