Cinq Tulipes Rouges (Five Red Tulips)

Director: Jean Stelli
Starring: René Dary, Suzanne Dehelly, Raymond Bussières
Runtime: 98'
Year of Production: 1949
Language: French
Subtitles: Greek

In the opening scene of the film by the prolific Jean Stelli, a car is speeding through the French countryside until its driver loses control and crashes into a stone pen. The introduction could be considered as a satisfying ratio for the entire film, which, as it follows the famous Tour de France, becomes a thrilling battle against time. The unfortunate driver is the first of the victims of a methodical killer who is picking off one by one the pioneers of the biggest cycling race on the planet. Near the bodies he always leaves his signature: a red tulip. The case is followed by police inspector Ricoul, who has an attitude and moustache similar to Hercule Poirot's, but also by a dynamic sports journalist from «L'Equipe», who to a certain extent resembles Miss Marple. Invoking one of the audience's greatest desires at the time (to see Agatha Christie's two heroes together in the same story), «The Five Red Tulips» is like a mystery that escaped the pen of the leading British author. With filming being split between studio and actual race locations, the police plot is dressed with the vivid heterogeneity of the French landscape. From the coastal routes to the ridges of the Alps and from the lush green plains to the ultimate deadly rendez-vous at the Champs-Élysées, Stelli's largely forgotten film offers a brief escape not only into the post-war European cinema, but above all into the legend of the Tour de France. Thodoris Karamanolis

Free admission with entry tickets, until available seats are filled. Ticket distribution starts 1 hour before each screening.