Before we get too deep into this review, let me quickly clarify that the Solo being reviewed is not the Ron Howard movie about the early years of Han Solo and Chewbacca. That Solo has caused me to fall asleep all three times I attempted to watch it on Disney streaming. The Solo being reviewed was made in France in 1970 by Jean-Pierre Mocky. I didn’t let my eyes rest during the 87 minutes of action. This is a masterpiece of student radical tension in a Neo Noir setting. We’re treated to a Paris ready to explode with a plot that is more pertinent now than before.
Deep in the French countryside a bunch of rich and powerful old guys are having a wild party with underaged girls. Before the debauchery gets completely out of control, a group of radicals with machine guns smash windows and let the bullets fly. At first the police aren’t sure who could have pulled off such a bloody crime scene. But then a clue arrives in the form of a letter made from words cut out of radical magazines. And it’s signed Virgile. At the same time Vincent Cabral (La Tête contre les murs‘ Jean-Pierre Mocky) arrives in Paris after playing violin on a luxury cruise. Vincent doesn’t only make money from the fiddle. He’s an accomplished diamond thief. He uses part of the money to help put his brother Virgile (Denis Le Guillou) through law school. He drops by kid’s dorm only to learn that the cops are looking for his brother too. Is his brother really a radical eager to take down the fat cats by force? Why would his brother put his name on the letter sent to the cops? How far will Vincent go to protect his brother?
Solo has everything going for a Paris crime film. The cool jewel thief in Vincent. The radical student in Virgile. The villains being pervy rich guys. This is a movie that could easily be remade now without too much tweaking of the script. What if a group of upset students raid Epstein Island? That’s exactly what’s happening here. The student radicals aren’t radical so much as willing to do the job that the cops won’t do. And we see the government concerned about protecting the reputation of the dead rich guys so that people don’t hear that they were truly doing with the underaged girls. Sound familiar?
Jean-Pierre Mocky does a magnificent job in all three roles. The script is tight. His direction keeps up the tension so everything looks like it will explode. As an actor, Mocky is magnetic on the screen. We believe he’s able to snag diamonds while playing his Stradivarius violin. We also get a sense that he’s willing to kill others to rescue his brother from the cops. Mocky elevates everything he touches in his film. Solo is everything that other Solo wasn’t.
The Video is 1.66:1 anamorphic. The 4K restoration transfer brings out the colors of Paris at night. The Audio is French LPCM 1.0 mono. The sound is sharp and full. The movie is subtitled in English.
Archival interview with screenwriter and star Jean-Pierre Mocky (12:55) was recorded in 2018. He talks about being inspired to write the script after overhearing a young person talk about a revolution after May 1968. He praises the score’s composer Georges Moustaki. They had met through Edith Piaf.
Interview with actor Anne Deleuze (17:28) has her reflect on her time playing the revolutionary with the bright red raincoat. She had just started acting school when she auditioned. He rejected her at first, but asked her to return weeks later. This was her first film.
Interview with Jean-Pierre Mocky’s assistant and friend Eric Le Roy (14:51) has him explain how Mocky had taken a decade off from acting to focus on directing comedy films starring Bourvil. He gets into the ’68 Revolution that didn’t last too long.
Gallery includes 18 images of posters and lobby cards
Limited edition booklet features more interviews with Mocky.
Radiance Films present Solo: Limited Edition. Directed by Jean-Pierre Mocky. Screenplay by Jean-Pierre Mocky & Alain Moury. Starring Jean-Pierre Mocky, Denis Le Guillou, Sylvie Breal, Anne Deleuze & Dominique Zardi. Running Time: 87 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Released date: June 23, 2026.
