Choice of Arms 1981

Noël Yves Montand is a former gangster who now breeds horses on a sprawling estate outside Paris, living with his wife, Nicole Catherine Deneuve. Their quiet, orderly life is jolted when two wanted crooks arrive in a stolen car: Serge, an old accomplice, and Mickey Gérard Depardieu, a young, volatile psychotic. Serge is fatally shot, and Noël quietly buries him, trying to keep the threat at bay. Mickey slips away and heads into Paris, where he confronts two police detectives, Bonnardot Michel Galabru and Sarlat Gérard Lanvin, at Noël’s house. After menacing the pair, Mickey escapes and holes up with Dany Richard Anconina, a friend in the city.

The danger spirals as Mickey grows convinced that Noël betrayed him to the authorities. He reappears one evening during a dinner party and terrorizes everyone present. To bring the lunatic to heel, Noël enlists help from two old accomplices and moves Nicole to a hotel for safety. Yet Nicole slips back to the estate one night when a sick prize mare draws attention, only to be seized by Mickey. The police are close behind, and Sarlat tests the intruder with gunfire; Nicole is killed in the exchange, and Mickey manages to flee.

As the chase narrows, Noël and his allies track Mickey to a hideout. One morning, Noël keeps watch while Mickey and Dany plan a bank robbery nearby. The bank guard shoots Mickey, and Noël carries the wounded man to a safe house to die. But the police locate the safe house, and Sarlat kills Mickey in a final burst of gunfire. Noël, still deeply implicated, confronts the consequences of his actions and, with resolve, takes Mickey captive and drives away. On a lonely road, Noël fires at Sarlat but deliberately misses, leaving the inspector alive in stunned silence. In the film’s closing moments, Noël is shown taking in Mickey’s little daughter, a somber postscript to a life built on violence and loyalty, with Mickey’s mother having previously taken her own life.