Purple Taxi

Filmed in Ireland, with Boisset not the only French director of his generation to be seduced into making a mystery movie with a whimsical flavour, this is one of the worst French movies of the decade: a confused attempt at creating intrigue out of the lives of several expatriates trying to escape their past. None of the English-speaking stars look like they know what's going on, especially Astaire, bowling round the Irish countryside in the taxi of the title. Thank God the best French film-makers have realised that making an English-language movie is not as easy as it seems; pity it took a disaster like this to ram home the message.