À mort l'arbitre (Kill the Referee) (1984)

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The mindless frenzy of sports fans is expertly captured in the first half of this action film by Jean-Pierre Mocky on soccer buffs gone mad. After Maurice, a referee in a soccer match, has retired to spend the night with his lover Martine (Carole Laure) a crowd of angry fans disrupts their plans,… More The mindless frenzy of sports fans is expertly captured in the first half of this action film by Jean-Pierre Mocky on soccer buffs gone mad. After Maurice, a referee in a soccer match, has retired to spend the night with his lover Martine (Carole Laure) a crowd of angry fans disrupts their plans, obviously with serious mayhem on their minds because of a disputed judgment in the game. Martine and Maurice escape in the nick of time but are hotly pursued through a shopping center, an ominous apartment complex, and several other forbidding venues. Reckless about their own safety, the angry mob takes risks that cause a few accidental deaths -- which only makes their murderous intent more focused. In this second half of the film, the conventional norms of a thriller feature take over, as the pair try to escape to safety -- and the story loses much of its originality. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi