181 Le professionnel

[Finch]

When his orders to kill an African president change at the last minute, French secret agent Josselin Beaumont (Jean-Paul Belmondo, Breathless, Mississippi Mermaid) isn’t recalled but betrayed by his superiors, who denounce him to the enemy as an assassin. After two arduous years in a foreign jail, Joss escapes back to his homeland with vengeance on his mind, determined to carry out his original mission. He lets his former bosses know of his plans, using his spying skills to taunt them and to evade the brutal Commissioner Rosen (Robert Hossein, The Wicked Go to Hell). This French classic marked a high point in Belmondo's action career, his spectacular stunts and brawny charm underlined by Ennio Morricone’s iconic theme ‘Chi mai’.

BLU-RAY LIMITED EDITION SPECIAL FEATURES

High-Definition digital transfer
Uncompressed dual mono PCM audio
New interview with critic and author Ginette Vincendeau about Jean-Paul Belmondo’s stardom (2026)
New interview with film score expert Lovely Jon about Ennio Morricone’s iconic theme “Chi mai” (2026)
Archival television interview with Jean-Paul Belmondo (1981)
Archival television interview with René Chateau, Belmondo’s agent, producer, and associate (1982)
Audio commentary by film historians Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson
Original French theatrical trailer
Newly improved English subtitle translation
Reversible sleeve featuring designs based on original posters
Limited edition booklet featuring archival interview with director Georges Lautner and more
Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

[vertigo]

It's a good film about the unglamourous secret services in continental Europe, with dirty jobs in Africa, the deep state, and so on. I'll buy it.

I liked Damiani's Goodbye and Amen. In my opinon, Langley operations are much more expensive and "glamorous" but obvious.

[domino harvey]

Unfortunately I don't share your enthusiasm. I've seen quite a few Lautners and Bebel actioners, and this is the bottom of the barrel for me. Some great looking Belmondo extras, but I guess it's unlikely I'll ever see them

[Aspect]

I like this one a lot too, but then again I paid only about $10 in a Kino sale. Morricone's score, in particular, gives it a melancholy air that really registers during the opening and concluding scenes. I also love the gun duel between Belmondo and Hossein.

Domino: which Belmondo and Lautner genre films do you consider better than this one? I haven't seen many of them, so I'm genuinely looking for recommendations. I also really liked The Outsider and Cop or Hood for what it's worth.

[domino harvey]

I think Lautner's best is Les seins de glace, which KLSC put out, but he had a good run earlier in the mid to late sixties where he made some of his most consistent films: Galia (not really in the spirit of most of his work, but starring his frequent muse Mireille Darc), La Grande Sauterelle, Le pacha (surprised this hasn't come out from someone), Ne nous fachons pas, &c. Haven't seen Flic ou Voyou but I imagine I will one of these days.

As far as Belmondo goes, I wouldn't say I love many of his genre movies but Le Corps de mon ennemi was much better than this, to name one easily seen via KLSC. I would much rather have more of his interesting 60s pics (Stuff like Tendre voyou or Week-end a Zuydcoote) get released but I know this will sell

[Aspect]

Thanks! I think both Les seins de glace and Le Corps de mon ennemi are very good too. Definitely elevated genre fare. I would love to see more Lautner and Verneuil get released, especially the ones you mentioned, whether through Radiance or Kino. Maybe if this one sells well enough.

[vertigo]

Le Corps de mon ennemi is excellent but I find Belmondo is too old for the character, and his chemistry with Marie-France Pisier is lesser than zero. To live in provinces is exactly like the films shows. What a bore!

[DeprongMori]

I was temporarily mistaking this for Leon: The Professional.

Looking back at my Letterboxd, I see that I did watch this a while back (perhaps on the Criterion Channel?) back before I was rating or reviewing anything, or noting where I watched it. My recollection was that I was pretty indifferent to it. Since I’ve got a subscription, it’ll be in the mail to me so I suppose I’ll give it another go after watching the supplements. But this is one I’m less than excited about among the Radiance releases.

[tenia]

Yeah, Le professionnel is pure 80s nostalgia for us French, but qualitatively speaking, it's our equivalent to rewatching a Chuck Norris "classic" movie. Or maybe Rambo 3.
It can thanks Morricone's music (though I prefer Le vent le cri over Chi Mai - which wasn't even composed for the movie, ironically), the best thing in the movie, but past this, it's really a middle of the road "he's alone against the world who betrayed him" movie. The very ending is nice, though.

[vertigo]

Peur sur la ville is going to be released by Studio Canal in UHD this year, it's a good thriller, but may be it is too short with the number of crimes. I really like it. Morricone's score is quite famous.

Radiance could buy Traitement de choc with a full naked Alain Delon. It was a pre-Epstein's clinic for the upper bourgeois.

[rrenault]

Yeah, Le professionnel is pure 80s nostalgia for us French, but qualitatively speaking, it's our equivalent to rewatching a Chuck Norris "classic" movie. Or maybe Rambo 3.
It can thanks Morricone's music (though I prefer Le vent le cri over Chi Mai - which wasn't even composed for the movie, ironically), the best thing in the movie, but past this, it's really a middle of the road "he's alone against the world who betrayed him" movie. The very ending is nice, though.

Pretty much. Morricone's music is without question the strongest aspect of the film.

[domino harvey]

Domino: which Belmondo and Lautner genre films do you consider better than this one? I haven't seen many of them, so I'm genuinely looking for recommendations.

Caught up with Verneuil’s Le casse and I’d rank it high on the list of Belmondo genre pics. Extremely stylish in spots, with almost ASMR moments alongside the opposite: extreme car chases! Belmondo has a particular stunt in this film that is so reckless that I can’t imagine how everyone involved convinced themselves it was worth the risk, but it gets a huge laugh when you realize what you assume is a stunt double is in fact Belmondo. Also contains an incredible, all time cinematic gag that is as tasteless as it is ingenious. Sony put this out on Blu themselves (as the Burglars), if you can believe that, in a two disc set with the dubbed and trimmed US version and the original French version on separate discs

[JSC]

Also boasts one of the first really tech-heavy heist scenes I can recall. Also a shout out to Omar Sharif, who's
clearly relishing his role.

[McCrutchy]

Domino: which Belmondo and Lautner genre films do you consider better than this one? I haven't seen many of them, so I'm genuinely looking for recommendations.

Caught up with Verneuil’s Le casse and I’d rank it high on the list of Belmondo genre pics...Sony put this out on Blu themselves (as the Burglars), if you can believe that, in a two disc set with the dubbed and trimmed US version and the original French version on separate discs

For anyone who is interested in Le casse, the German edition from Explosive Media is licensed from Sony and not only includes German and English subtitles for both cuts of the film (on two Blu-rays), but also contains over 70 minutes of video extras, which also have German and English subtitles. Both discs are also region free. I have a Mediabook version from 2020, but the discs were re-released in a keepcase in 2023. It's a great film.