Auguste Maroilleur, an elderly farmer, exploits 400 hectares of crop land with the help of his family, over which he rules with an iron hand. Things go awry the day he discovers one of his grandsons is involved in drug traffic. To make matters worse, the reckless youth has hidden the white powder in the Maroilleur farm. Without a moment's hesitation, Auguste gets rid of the toxic substance but, of course, the mob has different views...
Acting
Gabin's granite face finally cracks — 50 years of French cinema in one stare.
Direction
Granier-Deferre treats 80 minutes like a vise tightening.
Cinematography
Soybean fields never looked this menacing.
Director
Pierre Granier-Deferre
Jean Gabin
Auguste Maroilleur
Danièle Ajoret
Louise, Auguste's Second Daughter
Michel Barbey
Maurice, Louise's Husband
Christian Barbier
Léon, Mathilde’s Husband
Pierre Dux
Investigating Judge
Armando Francioli
Francis Grutti, a Crook
Julien Guiomar
Police Commissioner
Eléonore Hirt
Mathilde, Daughter of Auguste
Reinhard Kolldehoff
Hans
Félix Marten
Marc Grutti, Emissary of the Crooks
Orlane Paquin
Véronique, Daughter of Louise and Maurice
Marc Porel
Henri, Son of Mathilde and Léon
André Weber
Bien-Phu, Nephew of Auguste
Henri Attal
Louis, a Crook
Astrid Frank
Hans's Friend
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Jean Gabin insisted on doing his own tractor driving; he learned on his Normandy estate.
Shot during the real 'heroin wave' hitting rural France, it scared agricultural ministers more than audiences.
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