''The Axe'' (US title: ''The Ax'') (french: Le couperet) is a 2005

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discu ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by

Costa-Gavras Costa-Gavras (short for Konstantinos Gavras; el, Κωνσταντίνος Γαβράς; born 12 February 1933) is a Greek-French film director, screenwriter, and producer who lives and works in France. He is known for films with political and s ...

and starring José Garcia, Karin Viard, and

Olivier Gourmet Olivier Gourmet (born 22 July 1963) is a Belgian actor. Gourmet was born in Namur. He won the Best Actor award at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival for his role in '' Le Fils'' by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. He also appeared in ''La Promesse ...

. The film is an adaptation of the 1997 novel ''The Ax'' by

Donald E. Westlake Donald Edwin Westlake (July 12, 1933 – December 31, 2008) was an American writer, with more than a hundred novels and non-fiction books to his credit. He specialized in crime fiction, especially comic capers, with an occasional foray into ...

, and follows the attempts by a laid-off employee to get back on his feet. He eventually becomes so desperate that he is prepared to kill his job competitors. The film is a co-production between France, Belgium and Spain.

Synopsis

The 39-year-old chemist Bruno Davert has been working at a paper mill for 15 years, improving products and saving money for the shareholders. One day, the company announces that it is forced to " downsize", so 600 staff are laid off and many of their jobs are instead outsourced to a company in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

. The result is a 16% increase in dividends to the company shareholders. Bruno was one of the 600 laid off, and two years later he has still not been able to find another job, in spite of numerous job applications. He has lost his self-esteem and his family has been forced to give up many of its accepted comforts, such as cable TV and the internet, although his wife has taken two part-time jobs in order to keep them afloat. Bruno concludes that there is too much competition in his sector for the few jobs available, and so in desperation he decides to literally eliminate his competitors, by killing those more qualified than him.

Main cast

* José Garcia as Bruno Davert * Karin Viard as Marlène Davert * Geordy Monfils as Maxime Davert *

Christa Theret Christa may refer to: * Christa (given name), a female given name * Janusz Christa (1934-2008), Polish comics author * ''Swedish Fly Girls'', a 1971 film also known as ''Christa'' * 1015 Christa, an asteroid See also * Christ (disambiguation) * C ...

as Betty Davert *

Ulrich Tukur Ulrich Tukur (born Ulrich Gerhard Scheurlen; 29 July 1957) is a German actor and musician. Early life and education Tukur spent his youth near Hannover where he finished his final secondary school examinations in 1977. He also earned a high sch ...

as Gérard Hutchinson *

as Raymond Machefer * Yvon Back as Etienne Barnet *

Thierry Hancisse Thierry Hancisse (born 20 November 1962, in Liège) is a Belgian actor. His acting credits include '' Un soir au club'', ''The Boat Race'', '' Le Couperet'', '' Gabrielle'', '' The Colonel'', '' The Night Watchman'', '' The Lady in the Car with Gl ...

as Inspector Kesler *

Olga Grumberg Olga may refer to: People and fictional characters * Olga (name), a given name, including a list of people and fictional characters named Olga or Olha * Michael Algar (born 1962), English singer also known as "Olga" Places Russia * Olga, Russia ...

as Iris Thompson * Catherine Salée as Lydia *

Yolande Moreau Yolande Moreau (born 27 February 1953) is a Belgian comedian, actress, film director and screenwriter. She has won three César Awards from four nominations. Career She made her cinematic debut with director Agnès Varda in two movies: Sept pi� ...

as clerk * Dieudonné Kabongo as Quinlan Longus

Critical reception

The movie was well received by the critics. Review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reports that 80% of five critics gave the film a positive review, for an average rating of 7.2/10.

References

External links

* 2005 films 2000s French films 2005 thriller films 2005 black comedy films French thriller films French satirical films Belgian thriller films Films directed by Costa Gavras French black comedy films Termination of employment in popular culture Films based on American novels Films based on works by Donald E. Westlake Belgian black comedy films Les Films du Fleuve films {{2000s-France-film-stub