Tricheuyrs (1984) is an edgy film about gambling and addiction. Very much 1980's in spots. It's Barbet Schroeder's continuation of his exploratory fictions of ultimate states and experiences of limits: drugs (More, his first film), masochistic enjoyment (Mistress, with Bulle Ogier) and Barfly (on alcoholic drift and crazy love). With Tricheurs, the excitement of the game is staged through a violent addiction to luck and loss: we follow the nihilistic saga of a couple formed by Jacques Dutronc and Bulle Ogier, each serving as a talisman and an accomplice to the other. They're led by the frenzy of the game, from a table of baccarat to a roulette, from one casino to another, from Madeira to Macau. This is an absorbing chronicle of two anti-heroes.

This movie is about the interaction of a professional player and an average woman, both after their golden years, in the fortysomething age. Elric tries to keep himself sane while coping with his gambling addiction, which every now and then leaves him so broke he can´t afford a bag of groceries. Suzi is an average woman, who has just broke up with her lover when Elric meets her. Every gambler has a collection of superstitions, and these superstitions compel him to have Suzi by his side when gambling at the roulette. Both make a lasting effect on each other, and their gambling goes simultaneously with their man-woman relationship. I couldn´t tell more without being a spoiler, so that´s it for a summary of the flick. Good character building, uncompromising acting, competent direction, anything brilliant nor clumsy.Nice entertainment, shows decadence without leaving sadness in the watcher. 6 out 10.

Brilliant. "When I lose, I see the beauty of the world". The fact that Jacques Dutronc isn't exactly in the same acting league as Bulle Ogier is no drawback at all. In fact, it gives his appearance a "ghost-like" character. You him throwing the fruit away he just bought with his last money, you see him throwing cigars away after just one puff. Here's one unhappy man in search of something he doesn't understand.