Le Pull-Over Rouge

Christian Ranucci was arrested in 1974 for the kidnap and murder of a little girl, Elisa Garcia. This is an adaptation of Gilles Perrault's book about the affair, beginning with the reports of Elisa's disappearance (taken away by a man in a red pull-over, according to her brother) and ending on a freeze frame of Ranucci's agonized face as he is strapped to the guillotine. Drach takes it as read that Ranucci was innocent, the investigation and trial having been grotesquely mismanaged. Adopting a severe, resolutely non- dramatic style, he presents a compelling case. Still, this is pamphleteering, not cinema. On the other hand, it made its point: Ranucci's was the last execution carried out in France.