André Téchiné's BAROCCO takes place during a local election in Amsterdam, where a small-time boxer named Samson (Gérard Depardieu) is paid to create a scandal by saying he had a homosexual affair with one of the candidates. Although Samson is reluctant at first to get involved, his lover, Laure (Isabelle Adjani), persuades him to agree and use the money to escape the city. However, after Samson takes a large sum of money from one candidate, he accepts an equal amount from another. When the situation blows up in his face, Samson is murdered by his double, a gangster, and chaos ensues. Laure, haunted by the murder of her lover, falls in love with the gangster despite his ruthless act, and the situation gets worse as both the underworld and the shady group of politicians conspire against them.

BAROCCO, from director André Téchiné is an entrancing and operatic take on a political thriller that invokes the plot twists and bizarre narrative elements of Alfred Hitchcock's VERTIGO as it creates a world of crooked politicians, virtuous prostitutes, doppelgangers, and destiny.

On the eve of a local election in Amsterdam, Samson (Gérard Depardieu), a boxer, is paid to create a scandal by saying he had a homosexual affair with one of the candidates. Although Samson is reluctant to get involved, his girlfriend, Laure (Isabelle Adjani), persuades him to agree and use the money to escape the city. As Laure and Samson are attempting to leave the city, a gangster who looks exactly like Samson (played also by Depardieu) emerges from nowhere and murders him. An intricate chase ensues as the assassin tries to find Laure (and the money), the politicians and gangsters try to find the assassin, and Laure attempts to re-create her lost love in the form of the look-alike killer. The characters' dancelike movement through the shadow world of Amsterdam and the evocative settings (a gleaming storefront brothel and a sinister underworld spa) provide austere backdrops to this metaphorical thriller. The dark side of politics and human nature are uncovered as Laure begins to love the assassin and the government attempts to control it all.

DVD Features:

Region 1
Keep Case
Full Frame - 1.33

Gérard Depardieu: French Actor/Director
Isabelle Adjani: French Actress
Marie-France Pisier: Actress/Screenwriter/Director

André Téchiné: French director

Andre Genoves: 

Marilyn Goldin: Screenwriter

Philippe Sarde: Composer