Le Professionnel
Encyclopedia
Le Professionnel is a 1981
French
action
thriller film directed by French director Georges Lautner, starring Jean-Paul Belmondo
, Jean Desailly
and Robert Hossein
, based on the award-winning 1976 novel Death of a Thin-Skinned Animal by Patrick Alexander.
The music is composed by Ennio Morricone
and the theme music "Chi Mai
" is known worldwide.
n country) to kill their president for life (in other words their dictator) Colonel Njala. However, before Beaumont gets to Njala, the political situation changes suddenly and the French secret service betrays him to the Malagawian authorities. After a long and unfair trial — Beaumont is injected with drugs — he is sentenced to long-term penal servitude at a "re-education camp". After a daring escape with one of the inmates he returns to France and informs the French secret service — his betrayers — of his presence promising that he will kill Njala, who is in France for an official visit, and get his revenge on the people who betrayed him. The Secret Service get nervous and send secret police on Beaumont's trail, but Beaumont is always one step ahead, with cunning plans and helpful sources, and manages to humiliate and even kill some of the major betrayers, including the ruthless chief of the secret police, Rosen.
Beaumont kills Rosen in a gunfight and replaces his ID with his, spreading a fair amount of confusion within the secret service, so they reduce Njala's guard temporarily.
Beaumont eventually manages to get Njala killed — he leads the secret service to snipe the dictator by mistake. But as Beaumont calmly tries to escape by boarding Njala's helicopter, he is gunned down by the French government, which is shown to incite some political tensions.
1981 in film
-Events:*January 19 - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer acquires beleaguered concurrent United Artists. UA was humiliated by the astronomical losses on the $40,000,000 movie Heaven's Gate, a major factor in the decision of owner Transamerica to sell it....
French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
action
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
thriller film directed by French director Georges Lautner, starring Jean-Paul Belmondo
Jean-Paul Belmondo
Jean-Paul Belmondo is a French actor initially associated with the New Wave of the 1960s.-Career:Born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, west of Paris, Belmondo did not perform well in school, but developed a passion for boxing and football."Did you box professionally very long?" "Not very long...
, Jean Desailly
Jean Desailly
Jean Desailly was a French actor. He was a member of the Comédie-Française from 1942 – 1946, and later participated in about ninety movies.Desailly was married to the French actress Simone Valère....
and Robert Hossein
Robert Hossein
Robert Hossein is a French film actor of Azeri origin, director and writer. He directed the 1982 adaption of Les Misérables, and appeared in Vice and Virtue, Le Casse, Les Uns et les Autres and Venus Beauty Institute...
, based on the award-winning 1976 novel Death of a Thin-Skinned Animal by Patrick Alexander.
The music is composed by Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone, Grand Officer OMRI, , is an Italian composer and conductor, who wrote music to more than 500 motion pictures and television series, in a career lasting over 50 years. His scores have been included in over 20 award-winning films as well as several symphonic and choral pieces...
and the theme music "Chi Mai
Chi Mai
"Chi Mai" is a composition by Ennio Morricone that was used in the films, Maddalena and Le Professionnel , as well as the TV series, An Englishman's Castle and The Life and Times of David Lloyd George...
" is known worldwide.
Plot
French secret agent Josselin Beaumont is sent to Malagawi (a fictional AfricaAfrica
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n country) to kill their president for life (in other words their dictator) Colonel Njala. However, before Beaumont gets to Njala, the political situation changes suddenly and the French secret service betrays him to the Malagawian authorities. After a long and unfair trial — Beaumont is injected with drugs — he is sentenced to long-term penal servitude at a "re-education camp". After a daring escape with one of the inmates he returns to France and informs the French secret service — his betrayers — of his presence promising that he will kill Njala, who is in France for an official visit, and get his revenge on the people who betrayed him. The Secret Service get nervous and send secret police on Beaumont's trail, but Beaumont is always one step ahead, with cunning plans and helpful sources, and manages to humiliate and even kill some of the major betrayers, including the ruthless chief of the secret police, Rosen.
Beaumont kills Rosen in a gunfight and replaces his ID with his, spreading a fair amount of confusion within the secret service, so they reduce Njala's guard temporarily.
Beaumont eventually manages to get Njala killed — he leads the secret service to snipe the dictator by mistake. But as Beaumont calmly tries to escape by boarding Njala's helicopter, he is gunned down by the French government, which is shown to incite some political tensions.