Bruno loved his job as a middle manager at a paper company, but optimistically views being laid off as an opportunity. After two years of searching for a comparable position, optimism turns to desperation. His wife works two jobs, and their marriage slowly deteriorates as their hold on the middle class slips away. Bruno concocts a grimly audacious plan to identify and kill his fellow job applicants so that he is the only qualified person left.
Acting
José Garcia's deadpan desperation is uncomfortably perfect.
Direction
Costa-Gavras treats murder like mundane paperwork.
Writing
The novel's savage wit survives translation intact.
Director
Costa-Gavras
José Garcia
Bruno Davert
Karin Viard
Marlène Davert
Ulrich Tukur
Gérard Hutchinson
Olivier Gourmet
Raymond Machefer
Yvon Back
Etienne Barnet
Thierry Hancisse
Inspector Kesler
Christa Théret
Betty Davert
Yolande Moreau
Post Office Clerk
Dieudonné Kabongo
Quinlan Longus
Jean-Pierre Gos
Garage Owner
Serge Larivière
Police Inspector
Jeanne Savary
TV Host
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Based on Donald Westlake's 1997 novel 'The Ax,' written during his own career anxieties after being dropped by his publisher.
The Luger pistol Bruno uses is a deliberate choice—an obsolete weapon for obsolete men in a ruthless modern economy.
FR
